Some Things Never Change
by mylittleartscapes
Summary: Sequel to "Curse of Cassandra": After the events of Elsa's coronation,things begin to settle into a state of normalcy. But Anna soon realizes that some scars don't heal as easily as she first thought, but she still wants to help her sister get back to the way she used to be. What she discovers might surprise her.
1. Chapter 1

It had been several months since the "Great Thaw" (or "Great Freeze", depending on whether or not one was talking to an optimist or a pessimist). By this time, everyone in the Kingdom of Arendelle had settled into their daily routines, and was very much comfortable and happy. Those words could not be truer for the Queen of Arendelle, playfully (and slightly seriously) nicknamed the "Snow Queen" because of her wondrous power over ice and snow. It took some time, especially after the "Eternal Winter" fiasco, to draw her out of her shell, but soon the people of her kingdom eventually saw the kind, loving, playful young woman who was their Queen.

No one in the Kingdom was happier to see this side of the Queen back than the Princess. Anna had spent thirteen years of her life trying to get her older sister back. She understood why Elsa had hidden away in hindsight – in order to protect her from her powers – but at the time, all Anna wanted was to play with her sister like they used to. Now that Elsa's confidence had returned, Anna could not wait to catch up on all they had missed together.

She knocked on the door of the study out of habit, using the rhythmic, playful knock she always used when she was younger to signify who it was. But she no longer had to wait for a response – Elsa's "open gate" policy extended to more than just the large double doors at the entrance to the castle. Anna reached for the handle and swung the door open.

"Hey Els– Oh, wow, it's cold in here," the Princess observed as her eyes landed on her sister.

Elsa was standing with her back to the door, looking out the large, triangular window down to the town below. However, she was not gazing on the village itself but rather up to the sky above. "Hmm? Oh, sorry," she replied vaguely, "I don't notice things like that."

She turned around slightly to see Anna already getting a fire started in the hearth. She sighed happily and rolled her eyes at her little sister. "There," Anna said as she dusted her hands off, "That should thaw this place out a bit. I guess Her Royal Majesty of Ice and Snow doesn't have to worry about the cold like us mortals do."

"Anna, we've been over this," Elsa replied with a grin, "I may have ice powers, but it doesn't make me immortal."

"Yeah, yeah…I get it," Anna laughed. She looked over her older sister for a moment before wondering, "So?"

"So, what?"

"So, what's up?"

Elsa shifted her gaze back and forth slightly. "Nothing's up, Anna."

"Really? If nothing's up, then why were you staring forlornly out the window?"

Elsa smiled. "I'm the Snow Queen. I'm allowed to stare dramatically out the window if I want to," she answered, before turning her attention back up to the bright, blue sky.

"It's the storm, isn't it?"

Elsa released a heavy sigh. "It's getting closer. I know it doesn't look it now, but it will be here within two days, _maximum_. And it continues to grow in intensity."

Anna went over to join her sister at the window. She had been learning many new things about her sister, but one of the more awesome ones in her opinion was Elsa's ability to sense the weather. She only seemed to be affected by natural storms, though, since she had no idea she had caused a Kingdom-wide blizzard back in the summer.

_This_ particular storm had been keeping the Queen on edge for weeks. Anna initially knew something was wrong when she noticed that a distinct look of dread had returned to her sister's face. It was only after enough prodding that she managed to get Elsa to admit something was wrong, and then another few days to get her to explain what it was. This storm was going to be the first big, non-magical winter storm of the year, even though it was only the middle of November. And as the time wore on, the more dire Elsa's weather forecasts were becoming.

"Elsa, there's no need to worry," Anna assured her gently, "Thanks to you and your amazing ability, we were able to warn everyone in the Kingdom about it weeks prior. Everyone has stalked up food and warm blankets, and we have plenty of shovels and brooms to clear away the snow. Everything will be ok."

"I hope so," Elsa muttered in response.

Anna poked her in the side. "I thought you promised me that you wouldn't be so depressing anymore," she teased.

Elsa cast her a playful glare as she rubbed the spot where Anna had jabbed her ribcage. "Sorry," she sighed, "It's weather phenomena like this that get my powers worked up, and when _they're_ worked up…"

"You're a ball of stress?" Anna finished, "Elsa, you have to learn to relax – to let it go, remember?"

"I know, I know," Elsa groaned, "I'll just feel a lot better once this thing has passed." She pulled her eyes off the Kingdom and focused on her sister. "So, did you need something? Normally you spend the mornings sleeping."

Anna shrugged nonchalantly. "I wanted to see you this morning. I couldn't remember the last time we did anything fun together, so I just thought, 'Hey, I'll go see Elsa. Maybe she has some ideas.'"

The Queen smiled, but then it quickly disappeared. "Anna, I'd love to, but–"

"Let me guess? You're too busy," Anna replied bitterly.

"I know it's been a while, but there has been no break in royal affairs since my coronation," Elsa tried to explain as gently as she could, "Today alone I have four meetings, a visitation of a representative from a neighbouring kingdom, an inspection of the royal guard…_again_, and–"

"And countless documents for you to sign and seal," Anna finished again, more bitterness being added to her tone, "You know, it wouldn't hurt to take a day off once and a while."

"And then what, Anna?" Elsa demanded, "I'll have double the work load the following day! Then you'll never see me again!"

"I don't see you now!" Anna spat, "This is just like before, when you shut me out–" She froze when she caught a glance of her sister's face. "Oh my God, Elsa, I…I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"

Elsa's expression was filled with pain. There was anger there, too, but aside from the odd burst of irritability, the Queen had never angrily snapped at her sister. As far as the "fight or flight" instinct went, it seemed that the Princess had inherited the "fight" while the Queen had received the "flight". Anna could practically see the walls going up and the doors slamming shut around her sister to keep all emotion – with the exception of that damnable pain – from showing.

Elsa drew a deep breath, before muttering, "I think you should go."

"Elsa, please, I…I know you try to spend time with me. I should be grateful for–"

"I think you should go," Elsa repeated sternly. Anna flinched at the tone: it was her Queen voice – the voice void of emotion and empathy. It was reserved only for the times when her sister needed to be regal – to make known her true power and authority and to not be questioned by it. She _never_ used it on her sister.

But there was another reason for Anna's sudden obedience, as she hesitantly made her way to the door. She knew Elsa loved her unconditionally, and that it hurt the Queen every minute she could not see her little sister. So when Elsa ordered her to leave, Anna understood that something was wrong. She had learned from last time not to push the issue, and instead opted to wait a few hours for the Snow Queen to "warm up" before returning to check on her.

"O…ok," she said quietly, "I'm sorry again, Elsa. I'll…I'll see you in a bit, ok?"

Elsa refused to move, and was staring down at the floor with her arms wrapped around herself. Anna slowly shut the door, and upon hearing the _click_ of the door latching into place, Elsa snapped out of her mood. She managed three steps toward the exit before a knock from another door on the other side of the room caught her attention. "Your Majesty?" Kai called, "The council members have all been seated."

Elsa inwardly cursed and contemplated abandoning the meeting to go after her sister. But she knew she would never hear the end of it if she did, so she begrudgingly sighed and went off the start her long and dull day as Queen.

* * *

"I just don't understand it!" Anna sighed in exasperation as she flopped down dramatically in a pile of hay.

"Anna, you can't just expect your sister, the _Queen_, to drop everything whenever you have an idea to have fun," Kristoff told her as he packed his sled up with supplies.

"But she _promised_ not to shut me out again!" Anna whined, "And she's doing just that!"

"She's busy. She's not shutting you out, she just has a lot of work to do," he reminded her gently.

Anna groaned. "You didn't hear her today!" she exclaimed.

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad…"

"She used her 'queen voice', Kristoff."

Kristoff froze. He knew what it was like to be on the receiving end of that voice, after Elsa had sat him down and made it clear that if he ever hurt her sister things would get…uncomfortable for him. He knew it was precautionary, as he understood neither sister would ever make the same mistake as they had made with a certain prince ever again. He found it endearing that Elsa was so overly protective of her younger sister – terrifying, but endearing.

"Ouch," was all he managed to say. Anna grumbled something inaudible as she sat up in annoyance. "So are you planning on sulking all day?" he asked her tentatively.

"I have nothing else to do," Anna said sadly.

Kristoff knew that tone from his girlfriend. "You're waiting for a chance to apologize, huh?" he asked knowingly.

"Yeah," Anna admitted, "I said something awful to her…that's why she snapped at me. Well, she didn't really _snap_, but, you know, used her 'queen voice' and scared me a little… Not that she _wanted_ to scare me, but…" She trailed off when she realized she was rambling again.

Kristoff took a seat beside her in the hay. "You want to talk about it?"

"I may have brought up our past." Kristoff merely stared at her with a blank expression, forcing her to clarify, "You know, when she always stayed in her room and ignored me…"

A pained look crossed his face. He was learning things about the royal sisters all the time, but one thing he caught onto quickly was not to bring up that. "Oh, Anna," he groaned, "Why would you do that?"

"I…I don't know! I was angry, and I said something that made things worse. I…I even made it sound like she _wanted_ to be trapped in her room…" Anna moaned and flopped back onto the hay and hid her face with her hands. "I'm a terrible sister."

"No, you're not. You just act without thinking," he assured her.

"I hate that about me," she grumbled, "I'd better go apologize. It's mid-afternoon, now. That's probably enough time for her to calm down."

Kristoff smiled. "Good luck, Feistypants," he told her, "I should probably get moving, too." He got up and began loading a few more things into the sled.

"You're seriously going up to the lake now? Even after Elsa's doom and gloom predictions about that storm?" she asked as she, too, rose to her feet and brushed the loose hay off her dress.

"Don't worry," he replied, "I had an extensive talk with your sister about it. She gave me a timeline to work off of, and if I leave today, I should be able to get to the lake where there's a cabin and stable for me and Sven to take shelter in before it hits."

Anna looked at all the gear he had loaded. "I don't understand why you can't just wait it out."

"I have to go. I'm almost out of stock, and if I wait until after, I won't be able to harvest ice until the roads are clear."

Anna sighed before wrapping her arms around him. "Ok, but be careful," she told him, "You'd better come back, or I'll…"

"Ok, ok," he laughed, "I promise I'll be back in a few days."

She hugged him again, tighter than before. After they broke apart, Anna began to leave. "Say 'bye' to Sven for me," she called as she left.

"Will do!" he answered, "And good luck with your sister."

"Thanks!" Anna flinched. '_I'm gonna need it_.'


	2. Chapter 2

Anna walked hesitantly toward the doors of Elsa's study. It was not that she was afraid that Elsa was mad at her, since Elsa was never outwardly angry with _her_. Her older sister was a master at guilt-tripping though, and could use it the same way their parents had whenever Anna did something wrong. Anna hated the idea of her sister feeling disappointed in her. But she was not worried about that, either. She was worried that her sister had been hurt by her comment, and that was far worse than dealing with anger or disappointment.

As she neared the study, she could hear muffled voices coming from inside. One was her sister's, and the other was a man's she did not recognize. She inched a little closer, and held her ear close to the door.

"You must understand, Minister Dalgaard," Elsa said smoothly, "I only mean for the welfare of your Kingdom…"

"No, _you_ must understand, your _Majesty_," this Minister Dalgaard retorted, practically using Elsa's title as a curse, "We do not need Arendelle's advice on the matter."

So this must have been the visiting dignitary Elsa spoke of earlier. Anna did not like him.

"I merely ask that you halt your shipments for the next few days, for the safety of your traders," Elsa tried to explain, "There is a great storm coming, and–"

"A storm?" he spat, "Are you daft? Look out in the sky! There isn't a single cloud!"

Anna's mouth dropped open. '_Did he seriously just say that to the _Queen_ of Arendelle?_' she thought in disbelief.

Elsa did not seem bothered by it, or at least, not bothered enough to be detected in her voice. "I can see that, Minister. But I can assure you that it will be here soon. And it will be deadly to anyone left outside in it."

The Minister's voice darkened. "I find it a tad suspicious that this warning is coming from _you_, Snow Queen," he growled, "The very sorceress who can summon a blizzard with a wave of her hand."

"I am aware of your concerns, Minister, but I can assure you–"

"We have been concerned for some time, your Majesty," he continued angrily, "ever since we found out that our Kingdom's neighbour is ruled by one who is powerful enough to blanket her own kingdom in several feet of snow. What would it mean for other nations that are not her own?"

"Are you suggesting that I am threatening you, Minister Dalgaard?" Elsa questioned, her voice growing cold, "Because I thought I made it clear to _your_ nation – and countless others – that I will never consider – or _have_ _ever_ considered – using my abilities to bring harm upon anyone, _especially_ in an act of savagery."

"And yet you are asking us to stop our source of income for four days?" he demanded, "For some mysterious storm no one can give any evidence to? We are a land-locked nation! Arendelle is the only port in _miles_ for us to ship from! We cannot wait!"

"Once again, Minister, I apologize, but I cannot risk the safety of anyone who may get caught outside."

"Can't you stop it, then? You're the _Snow Queen_. There shouldn't be a dark cloud in your kingdom's sky if you do not wish it."

"I will not affect the natural order. If there is to be a snowstorm, then so be it. It is not my place to argue against God and Nature."

"That certainly didn't stop you before! A _blizzard_ in _July_ has to be the most unnatural–"

_Bang!_ "Hey! She had no control over that!"

The Minister and the Queen both looked to the door, which had been swung open so violently that it had crashed against the wall, and were now staring at a suddenly speechless Anna. The Minister was the first to find his words. "Yes, well," he said as he cleared his throat, "How is that supposed to relax my nerves, Princess?"

"Because she can control it now," Anna said, finding her nerves and taking a few steps into the room.

"Anna, now's not really a good time…" Elsa began. Anna glanced over at her older sister, and gasped silently at how _exhausted_ Elsa looked.

Elsa was seated at her desk, her posture rigid and her hands folded neatly in front of her. But her braided hair seemed messy, and not the styled messy Elsa chose to wear it as for most days. Dark semi-circles were forming under her blue eyes, and her eyes themselves had lost all of that delicate shimmer that took months after the Thaw to gain back. But aside from actual appearance, there was also something far more worrisome: _emotional_ exhaustion. It was painfully obvious that Elsa had once again been shoved to the precarious edge over the pit of depression, and all it took now was one more insensitive insult from this arrogant dignitary to push her into it.

Anna's protective instincts kicked in, and she turned around to furiously face the Minister. "She knows what she's talking about," Anna stated, "There is going to be a nasty storm, and unless you want a bunch of frozen workers, I suggest you listen to her. Besides, Arendelle will be shut down, anyway. Why even bother sending people here?"

"That is why I am trying to get the Queen to see reason," he responded, turning his anger on her, "There is no need to shut down, because there isn't going to be a storm. Unless _someone_ is willing to admit that she is the cause of it."

"Elsa would _never_ intentionally create a giant storm, just to spite _you_!"

"I wouldn't expect a naïve girl like you to understand."

"What? I'm not naïve, at least, not about my sister!"

"Oh yes. I distinctly remember back at the coronation you stating that she would never hurt you. But then, later on, we found out that she _did_. In fact, she _ki–_"

"_Enough_." Their heads turned at the same time to face Elsa, who was rising to her full height from her chair. "I do not wish to hear any more of this argument." Anna shuddered. That was not her sister's voice. It was not even her _queen voice_. No, this…this was the voice of an Ice Queen.

Anna shrunk away wisely, but the Minister was not an intelligent man. "It is true, isn't it? If _she_ is not safe, then why should I think–"

"Get. Out." The command was blunt and as cold as the air, which had dropped rapidly in temperature. "I can promise you a safe expulsion from my Kingdom, but I can guarantee _nothing_ if you ever come back. From now on, if your Kingdom would like to do business with Arendelle, they must send anyone but you."

The Minister gulped. There was something about her eyes, and how they were the only things on her face that expressed her total, seething _rage_ when everything else was calm and emotionless. "Y…yes, your Majesty," he muttered as he backed away toward the door. He kept his eyes locked on her until he was out of the room, then turned and walked as quickly as he could down the hall.

Anna watched him go until he disappeared before turning back to her sister. Elsa did not seem to acknowledge her existence. Instead, she continued to stare off into space for a few minutes before her face suddenly contorted with fury. She flung her right arm out toward the first thing she spotted in the dimly lit room: the fireplace. A brilliant beam of glowing magic shot from her hand and consumed the hearth, not even bothered by the fire. Ice exploded around it in jagged, twisted, angry forms.

Anna stared at the ice for a minute. "Um…I can come back if this is a bad time…" she began as she looked at her sister. She stopped when she realized that Elsa was far from angry anymore.

Elsa was pressed against the closest wall, her arms clutching her sides and her breathing heavy and laboured. Her eyes were wide with panic and fear as they locked onto the deadly field of ice now encasing the fireplace. "No…" she whispered. She chanced a glance at her un-gloved hands, before she quickly hid them under the lilac-coloured jacket she was wearing over the matching dress.

"Elsa?" Anna said quietly as she carefully took a few steps forward.

Elsa's eyes suddenly locked onto her little sister. She shrunk into herself more, giving her the look of a cornered animal. "Anna? N…no, Anna. St…stay there," she stammered, raising her hands up defensively as a reflex and then immediately thinking better of it, "D…don't come any closer."

"Elsa," Anna said again, her concern only growing, "It's ok. That pompous jerk is gone. You totally showed him, by the way, and it was awesome! So it's alright, you don't have to freak out anymore."

She took a few more steps, bringing her around the desk, and that was enough of a prompt for Elsa to jump away. With the desk safely separating them, Elsa paused just briefly to utter, "I…I'm s…sorry. But I h…have to g…go."

"Elsa, wait!" Anna called after her, "Elsa!" Anger suddenly began to form, and before she could catch it, she spat out something harsh: "Don't you _dare_ shut me out again!"

Elsa froze in the doorway, her hand resting on the frame for support. She looked like she was about to take another step forward, but then she seemed to stumble backward into the room. Frost started to creep onto the wall from her hand, and she quickly removed it. With no support anymore, she sagged to her knees. More ice began to spread out from around her, and she hugged herself even tighter before bursting into tears.

Anna rushed to her side and dropped down to the floor. The second she was down, she found herself smothered in a strong embrace. It was as if Elsa had to be sure Anna was still physically there, and that if she released her, Anna would disappear. "I'm sorry," she said through the sobs, "I'm _so_ s…sorry, Anna."

"Hey, hey. It's ok, Elsa. It's ok. You don't have to apologize. In fact, _I'm_ sorry I yelled at you…"

"You have every right to," Elsa muttered weakly.

That caused Anna's anger to flare up again. "No," she said sternly, taking her sister by the shoulders and pushing her back far enough to look her in the eyes, "I _don't_ have that right. _No one_ has that right, Elsa. Because _you_ don't deserve to be yelled at. So you need to suck it up, and… Are you ok?"

Elsa's breathing was short and panicked. Her entire body trembled violently in Anna's hands, and her face paled so much that it rivalled the colour of the snow that had begun to fall from the ceiling. The worst were her eyes, which were akin to the eyes of a terrified child who had no comprehension of why she had to behold the horrors in front of her. In a vague response to Anna's question, she let out a tiny whimper and shook her head back and forth.

Anna let her go, and Elsa immediately backed away until the wall stopped her. She pressed her knees up to her chest and tightly clutched the sides of her head with her hands. She finally closed her petrified eyes, and squeezed them shut so tightly Anna was sure that it hurt. She was muttering something to herself. Anna had to inch closer in order to hear: "C…conceal, don't f…feel. C…c…conceal, d…don't…"

Elsa suddenly gasped in pain as tendrils of ice shot out of her body at odd angles and snaked along the floor. Anna was about to say something when she heard the words that shattered her heart: "Y…you _idiot_," Elsa hissed at herself, "K…keep it together. _Control it_. You _have_ to keep her safe. S…so _conceal_, you in…incompetent m…_monster_."

Anna wanted to yell at her again. She wanted to scream at her to stop talking to herself like that. But a little voice inside her told her that to do so would only make things worse. So instead, Anna did something she only did very rarely: she thought things through first before acting. It only made things more painful for her, but it was what was best for her sister.

The first thing Anna realized was that she had never seen her sister like this before, and it terrified her. Even back at the ice palace, Elsa's nervous breakdown then was not _this_ bad. '_I thought she was happy_,' she wondered desperately, '_She _seemed_ happy. So why is she like this now?'_

Then the idea hit her like a ton of bricks. '_Oh my God. What if…she was _always_ like this, but she had managed to keep it from me to protect me?'_

"Elsa?" she managed to whisper, "Elsa, please, just listen to me."

Elsa's blue eyes began to open slowly and focus on her younger sister. "Elsa," Anna continued gently, "You are not an idiot. You are the smartest person I know, and I know, like, _a lot_ of people." She crawled a bit closer. Elsa flinched, but otherwise did nothing. "You are not incompetent, either. You almost single-handedly run an entire Kingdom, whose wealth, peace and beauty are known throughout the world – all because of _you_." Finally, she managed to get close enough to pull her sister into a warm hug. "And lastly, you are _definitely_ not a monster. You love _way_ too much to _ever_ be a monster."

"I'm sorry," Elsa murmured.

"Stop apologizing," Anna said. It was not so much a command, than it was a request.

Elsa pulled away from her slightly, and continued to tightly hug her legs to her chest. "Well, I am," she muttered as she rested her chin on her knees, her eyes now staring off into space across the room, "You sh…should never have s…seen me l…like this."

"It's ok," Anna said soothingly, "That guy was a jerk and he said some really awful things. I get it: it brought back some painful memories for you. I'm actually kind of glad you aren't keeping this in."

"I tried," she replied sadly, "At least unt…til I could get back t…to my room."

Anna frowned in concern. "I've never heard you stutter before, Elsa," she said bluntly, yet softly.

Elsa was silent for a few, painful minutes. "It…it happens s…sometimes," she eventually admitted, "Wh…when they're really b…bad." She suddenly cringed as she realized what she had just exposed.

Anna's eyes were wide with shock and horror. "Elsa," she asked slowly, "What are 'they'?"

"I…I read somewhere th…that these s…symptoms are con…connected to a thing c…called an a…anxiety at…attack."

"And, you've had them before?"

Elsa nodded slightly before burying her face in her knees. "I get them all the time," she mumbled, sounding like she was on the verge of tears.

"All the time?" Anna repeated in disbelief, "When? I…I've _never_ seen you like this before. Have you been hiding them somehow?"

Elsa nodded again. "They n…normally happen at n…night."

"How long?"

"What?" Anna saw a small sliver of sapphire blue glance in her direction.

"How long, Elsa?" Anna demanded, "How long is 'all the time'?"

"I…I don't know," Elsa whispered, "It…it feels like I've always had them."

Anna began to connect the pieces, and just thinking about it hurt. "So, does thirteen years sound about right, then?" she questioned hesitantly. All she received in response was a timid whimper. "Elsa, y…you don't have to…"

Anna stopped herself when she realized what she was saying. She watched her older sister with immense sadness, the painful understanding coming to her now at a faster rate. She could tell Elsa to stop thinking so negatively, or to stop worrying, until she was blue in the face. But Elsa had known this life for so long that it was now all she had, despite the events after the Great Thaw. So much damage had been done over those wretched thirteen years, and she berated herself for being so naïve as to believe that all of the scars had just magically disappeared in one day. Now, she was unsure if they would disappear at all.

All she could do now was just be there for her sister.

"What do you normally do during these…anxiety attacks?" she asked gently.

"I…I usually just wait until the worst is over," Elsa replied. Anna breathed a silent sigh of relief to hear that the stutter had eased a bit. "Then, I go lie down for a while. K…keeping in my powers during these times often completely drains me."

Elsa sounded like she was already succumbing to her exhaustion as she spoke. That was enough of a prompt for Anna. "Come on," she sighed as she pushed herself to her feet before extending a hand out to her sister, "Let's get you to bed."

"Anna, you don't have to take care of me," Elsa said quietly, "It shouldn't have to be your job."

"It's not a job, Elsa. You're my sister – I _want_ to take care of you. Now, up!"

Elsa slowly placed her hand in Anna's, and was pulled to her feet. Anna gave her a warm smile before she enveloped her in a comforting hug. She then took Elsa's hand and guided her to her room.

Elsa settled onto her bed, not even bothering to change into something more comfortable. She curled up into her usual sleeping position on her side, but before she closed her eyes, she looked back at her little sister. "Anna?" she asked softly, "Could you…maybe…stay, for a little while? Just until I fall asleep?"

She did not need to ask twice. Anna nodded and went around to the other side of the bed. She sat down, and reached a hand out to gently rub Elsa's back. Elsa let out a contented sigh, and turned her head just enough to see her sister. "Thank you, Anna," she murmured.

Anna could see that Elsa was already on the verge of sleep, so she kept her response quick: "You're welcome, Elsa. Sleep well." She waited until Elsa was sound asleep before she whispered, "You don't have to be afraid anymore. I'll be right here."


	3. Chapter 3

Anna had eventually fallen asleep beside her sister. Much of the night was uneventful, as Elsa, too, had a tendency to sleep like a rock on normal nights, let alone nights following a bad anxiety attack. The only difference between the sleeping siblings was that Anna was all over the place, while Elsa remained rigid in one spot.

This night, however, witnessed a temporary change in Anna's sleeping pattern. As dawn drew closer, Anna began to stir. Something was pulling her out of her deep slumber, and whatever it was clearly was the most powerful force in the world, since _nothing_ could wake her up at four in the morning. The castle could be on fire, and she would not notice.

"N…no."

Anna groaned. She rolled over on her side facing her sister, and tried to ignore the thing making her wake up.

"No, please, no…"

"Mmm, yeah?" Anna muttered incoherently, "What's going on?"

"I'm sorry."

Anna slowly opened her eyes. The room was still dark, but her fuzzy vision could make out the faint outline of her sister's form – her very tense form. "Elsa?" she whispered, "You up?"

"I…I didn't mean to…"

More awake now, Anna pushed herself up and gingerly put a hand on Elsa's shoulder. "Elsa? Is that you?"

"It was…accident…I'm not…monster…"

"Elsa?" Anna's voice felt so tiny in the large, dark room. She got up from the bed and went over to look at her sister's face.

Elsa was still sound asleep, but she was in no way happy about it. Her expression was pained and fearful. Her laboured breathing had returned, though it still maintained a slight rhythmic quality as it would for any sleeping person. The worst were the tears: Elsa was crying in her sleep.

Just when Anna thought her heart could not break anymore, Elsa's lips formed the mumbled ghosts of words: "Mama…P…Papa…Anna…I'm sorry… Please…f…forgive…I didn't… accident…"

"Oh Elsa," Anna breathed as she felt her own tears beginning to stream down her face. Just how many demons had to haunt her sister? How many scars marred her beautiful mind? How long has she been suffering like this?

Anna was furious, terrified and saddened all at once. She wanted nothing more than to scoop Elsa up into a hug and tell her that she was loved repeatedly until the elder woman believed it. The thing that hurt the most was that when Anna looked down, the image viciously fought with her memory of the last time she had seen Elsa sleeping. Then, she was a small, imaginative, playful, _happy_ child who could only dream good things. Now, after taking painful note of the numerous stress lines, she was sure the only things Elsa could dream about now were nightmares.

Not wanting to extend her sister's torture, Anna put both hands on Elsa's shoulder and shook hard. "Elsa, Elsa! Wake up!" she said urgently, "Please, Elsa, come back to me!"

Elsa let out a small moan in protest. Her face twisted in more pain before her eyelids fluttered open. The first thing she saw was her sister standing over her with panic on her face. "Anna?" she asked in a weak voice, "What's wrong?"

"Oh my God, Elsa! You just had what looked like a traumatizing nightmare and you're asking _me_ that?" Anna demanded.

"You looked worried… Also, you can let go of my shoulder now. It's starting to hurt."

Anna immediately released her death grip. "Oh, sorry!" she said quickly, "I…I just couldn't think of any other way to wake you up."

"You could have jumped on me like you used to," Elsa suggested. There was a pause. Anna merely stood beside the bed, dumbfounded, while Elsa waited for some kind of reaction. After a moment, Elsa pushed herself up as she continued, "Wow, you really _are_ worried about something. That was practically an invitation to re-attempt your past goal of crushing my spine. What is it?"

"Y…you…you just woke up from a terrible nightmare and you're _making jokes_?" Anna sputtered.

Elsa looked down at the floor. "I…I always have that dream," she admitted, "It always frightens me when I sleep, but I've reached the point where it can't hurt me after I wake up. I've just…seen it too many times."

Anna stared at her sister in disbelief. "What?" she exclaimed, "You've _always_ had that dream? How are you ok with this?"

Elsa shrugged. "I've just come to accept it, I guess."

Anna was furious at Elsa's nonchalant response. "No," she said sternly, "You _can't_ just accept something like that, Elsa!"

"Anna, what do you expect me to do? I can't change my dreams. The only thing I can do is to accept that I'll always have them."

"But _why_? There must be a reason for them! Maybe if we figure that out we can get them to stop. Are they about me freezing to death? Because we've been over this before…"

"What? No…well, yes…sort of… But–"

"What about burying the kingdom in snow?"

"No, but Anna–"

"Or Mama and Papa? Did they hurt you in some way? Is that why you're so jumpy now?"

"No! Anna!"

Anna froze at the sound of her sister's angry voice. "What is it, Elsa?" she asked quietly, "This is something you haven't told me before, I know it. Please, I want to know what happened to you."

Elsa let out a heavy sigh before patting the bed next to her. Anna went over and sat beside her, mimicking her position by resting with her back against the headboard. Elsa began painfully, "It's not about what happened to _me_, Anna. It's about what happened to _you_."

"What do you mean? Like, when I froze?"

Elsa shook her head. "No, this happened before," she explained, "Before everything else: when we were kids." She paused for a moment. She had always dreaded the day she would have to tell this tale, but Anna was right: she _needed_ to know. "You had always known about my powers, Anna," she told her quietly, "Ever since our first night together, you knew."

"What? But, I don't remember that," Anna replied with confusion, "And I think I would remember something about my sister having magic powers."

"It's…complicated, Anna," Elsa continued, "You knew about my ability until you were five… And then you had to forget."

"You do realize that you're not making _any_ sense, right?"

"Just _please_, Anna, let me explain." Anna nodded and pretended to pull an imaginary zipper across her lips. Elsa smiled slightly before speaking. "It all began when we were little. I was eight, and you were five. It was early morning, and the Northern Lights were on full display in the night sky. You always used to love those lights, and would wake up from even the deepest sleep to see them. On _that_ night, they had awoken you, and you wanted to play with me.

"After some prodding you managed to get me up with the one thing that never failed. You asked if I wanted to build a snowman, knowing that I could never say 'no' to that request.

"Together, we raced through the halls of the castle and into the ballroom. There, I used my magic to create a winter wonderland for us to play in. Building a snowman was fun, but my favourite part of these adventures was always watching your amazement and wonder at my magic. You never feared it, and with you around, neither did I.

"We spent hours playing in the snow. We skated on the ice, and slid down snow hills. That was the night we built Olaf… But then, things took a turn… A bad one."

Anna had no idea how to feel. Elsa described every detail as if it had happened just hours ago. But she could still not recall a thing. And, she had a distinct memory of them building Olaf outside. But, for some reason, she believed _Elsa's_ story more than her own memories.

"What happened?" she asked in a timid voice, unsure if she wanted to know. She had a feeling that whatever it was, it had hurt her sister greatly.

Elsa wrapped her arms around herself. "I…I was creating snowbanks, and you were jumping from pile to pile as I made them. I…I didn't realize that they were growing taller until they were several feet high, and by then you had lost yourself in the excitement. You were going faster and faster…I…I couldn't keep up! I…I tried to warn you, but you c…couldn't hear me.

"A…and then I…I slipped. I…I had _never_ slipped on ice before in my life, or ever since," Elsa said in a shaky voice. Her eyes had glazed over and she was now staring off into seemingly nothing, but Anna knew that she was watching the very memory she was describing. "I…I fell backward, and hit my head on the ground. It blurred m…my vision temporarily, but I knew you were in danger because as I fell I saw you leap off a snowbank – a twelve-foot high snowbank. There was nothing underneath it but the cold, hard, icy floor, and you were so sure that I would catch you. I…I reached out instinctively, a…and I didn't realize that I was aiming my hand directly _at_ you, and…and…"

Elsa suddenly shrunk into herself, and let out a shuddering breath. Anna wrapped her arm around her sister. "Hey, Elsa, it's ok. It's ok, I promise," she said gently, "You…you don't have to continue if you don't want to… I can kind of figure out what happened from here…"

"No," Elsa said as she shook her head back and forth to clear it, "You need to hear this, and _I_ need to say it out loud." She took a deep breath, and confessed: "My magic betrayed me for the first time that night. It was the first time I let my fear control me, and _I hit you with my powers_."

"Elsa…"Anna whispered, "It…it was an accident, Elsa! You don't have to–"

"I don't care if it was an accident!" Elsa shouted, leaping off the bed to stand menacingly over Anna, "I almost killed you that night, Anna! And I _did_ lose you! I lost my whole life, my family, and _you_ all because of _an accident_! Because of that, it does not matter if it was intentional or not – I blame myself for it regardless!"

Anna's eyes widened in shock. "It was because of _that_ that Mama and Papa separated us?" she demanded in disbelief, "I lost my sister because of something so stupid?"

"Did you not hear me? I just said that I almost killed you, Anna!" Elsa cried.

"But I lived! I'm _right here_, Elsa!"

"But at the time I thought I did! I was an eight-year-old girl, holding her unconscious sister and _desperately_ praying that she would be all right. It was in that moment that I realized that my powers weren't some kind of toy for us to play with – they were dangerous, and if I was to ever let my guard down again, they would hurt someone else."

"But you shouldn't have hid away! The answer was _love_, Elsa! How could you have possibly figured it out hiding in your room! We could have been spared that whole Eternal Winter fiasco if you had trusted _love_!"

"I didn't know it at the time! None of us did! All we knew was that I was rapidly losing control over something that was capable of hurting everyone, including the one person I thought would be safe from me."

"So they just locked you up?" Anna exclaimed, jumping off the bed to face her sister, "Mama and Papa just turned their backs on you?"

Elsa glared at her. "They did _not_ turn their backs on me," she snarled.

"They locked you in your room! They kept us apart! If it weren't for them, then maybe you wouldn't be so afraid now!"

"Stop it, Anna! There is _nothing_ they did to intentionally cause me harm," Elsa snapped, "They were scared, just as I was. _None_ of us knew what to do, and keeping me away from other people seemed like the best option for the time."

"But…but, it sounded like you had control over your powers _before_ the incident," Anna argued, "Why didn't you make the connection?"

"Because of what the trolls said!"

Anna was taken aback. "The trolls? You've seen the trolls?"

Elsa sighed. "Yes," she said slowly, "Papa found a book in the library with directions to the Valley of the Living Rock, and we took you there to heal you. They saved your life, but at a price."

"Price? They don't care about money," Anna said defensively for Kristoff's adopted family.

"No, no, it wasn't anything like that," Elsa reiterated, "Their leader felt it best to take away your memories of my magic, to ensure that all the ice I shot into your head was removed properly. He altered them, so that you still remembered all the fun we had together, but it wasn't caused by my powers. It was because of _that_ that Papa thought it would be best to hide it from _you_.

"As for staying away from everyone else, that came about because of a prophecy they showed me. I still remember it as if I heard it yesterday: '_Your power will only grow. There is great beauty in it, but also great danger. You must learn to control it. Fear will be your enemy.'_"

"Well, there you go: fear _was_ your enemy," Anna stated matter-of-factly, "If you had let me know about that then maybe I could have helped you."

"It wasn't that easy, Anna," Elsa sighed in exasperation, "The prophecy was accompanied by a vision in the Northern Lights: it…it was a vision of me, as I look now… I was performing my magic in front of a crowd of people. At first, they seemed happy, but then everything became red as blood and the crowd of people turned on me. The vision ended with a scream…_my_ scream."

Anna stared at her, wide eyed. "What?" she asked, it being the only word she could manage to say.

Elsa nodded. "Mama and Papa didn't hide me away to keep other people safe," she told her, "They did it so no one would find out that I was a witch. They just wanted to make sure that the wrong people didn't find out about my powers – people who would hurt me. _I_ was the one who hid to protect people."

"So that means…no one is at fault. Ok, maybe it's the other way where _everyone's_ a little guilty," Anna wondered, "Before the coronation, I just thought you didn't want to see me anymore, and then after I found out about your powers, I thought you were just afraid of accidentally hurting someone… But now…"

She trailed off as she looked at her sister. Ever since being reunited with her, Anna had noticed just how grown up Elsa was. Granted, she always had been more reserved than Anna ever was, and she was _Queen_ after all, but there were times when it felt like the woman standing before her was not the sister she knew all those years ago. She was too serious, too mature, too… _sad_ to be Elsa. Anna had never known why that was until this moment.

"Oh my God, Elsa," she breathed, "I…I'm so sorry."

"Why are you apologizing, Anna?" Elsa questioned, "Y…you did _nothing_ wrong."

"Yes, I did. I assumed _my_ life was terrible during the separation and that whatever happened to you was nothing! The worst I had to suffer was boredom, but you…"

Elsa took a step closer to Anna with a sympathetic look. "It was more than boredom, Anna," she reminded her, "You lost your only companion and no one would tell you why."

"But at least I didn't _change_ from that!" Anna blurted out, "I wasn't totally _destroyed_ by what happened to me! I'm still that wild, energetic, rambunctious and un-ladylike little girl I was ever since we spit apart, but you… I…I miss you, Elsa."

Elsa understood exactly what Anna meant, and it hurt. But that did not stop her from gently wrapping her arms around her younger sister. "You were the last person on this earth who deserved to suffer," Anna muttered into Elsa's shoulder, "Yet you were the one in the most pain. You _still_ are."

Tears began to well in Elsa's eyes. "I…I know I've changed because of what happened," she whispered, "And I'm sorry to say that a lot of those changes cannot be undone. They are a part of me, just as much as my powers and my memories." She paused to pull back and look her sister in the eye. "But there are others than _can_ be fixed. And _you_ are helping me to fix them, Anna. You've already thawed my frozen heart, and are helping me to love again. You are helping me have fun again, too. And, most importantly, you are helping me fight the darkness, Anna."

"I…I am?" Anna asked in surprise, "How am I managing that?"

"Last night was a good example," Elsa told her, "I…I have a feeling that I am going to continue to have anxiety attacks for a very long time, but yesterday was the first time when I did not feel hopeless about them. I had you to help me through the worst of it. Just being there for me, and making sure that I was looked after, made all the difference."

"Really?" Anna asked quietly.

"Really," Elsa confirmed.

By then, the sun was beginning to rise. They broke apart and watched the sky fill with vibrant pink colour together. After several minutes, the comfortable silence between them was broken by a loud growl coming from the vicinity of Anna's stomach.

Elsa raised a hand to her mouth to conceal a giggle, while Anna blushed. "Wow, I'm not used to being up this early. My body already thinks it's time for lunch," she laughed.

"You're welcome to come down to breakfast with me. It's normally around this time that my day starts, anyway," Elsa offered.

"You start your day _this_ early?" Anna gasped, "Are you nuts?"

"A Queen must rise with her Kingdom at dawn," Elsa replied with a smirk. As she spoke, she looked back out her window toward the village, where a few people were already beginning to go about their days.

Anna's stomach growled again. "Well, at least today I'll get to eat three meals instead of two and a half like I normally do," she shrugged.

"And a half?" Elsa questioned with an eyebrow raised.

"Oh," Anna said, her eyes shifting to the side like they do when she knows she is in trouble, "Yeah, I sort of, sometimes, sneak a snack or two from the kitchen when no one is looking."

Elsa crossed her arms over her chest, looking like she was about to scold her for doing so. But then a smile cracked her queenly façade – a _real_ smile. "Yeah, I sometimes do that, too," she admitted sheepishly, "But I only do it on nights I've been kept up signing trade agreements."

Anna could not hold back her laugh. "Really? You do?" She was absolutely overjoyed to hear about her sister acting much like her old self again. "Well, come on, then! Let's go get some breakfast!" she exclaimed happily as she grabbed hold of Elsa's wrist and dragged her out the door.

"Whoa, Anna! Sh…shouldn't we change first? We are, after all, wearing the same clothes we wore yesterday," Elsa protested as she tried to free herself from her sister's iron grasp, "Besides, have you seen your hair? It looks like a rat made a nest in it."

"Oh, we can worry about that later," Anna told her, "Right now: food. And, while we eat, I expect to hear other tales of yours that involve you doing less-than-royal things."

"You won't be hearing much from me, then," Elsa replied, giving up on being able to walk to the dining hall under her own free will.

"Oh, don't worry, Snow Queen," Anna said slyly, "I have my ways of making you talk."


	4. Chapter 4

Anna and Elsa spent most of the morning together, but they eventually had to split up. Elsa had work to do, and Anna was beginning to lose herself in her thoughts. She wandered down to the stables out of habit. It was where she used to go to kill time during the three years since her parents died, as it was where she actually had a friend to talk to.

Ok, so it was not a _human_ friend, but he still counted to her. Bjorn was Anna's white fjord horse. She had known him since he was a little colt. Her family had received him and his "brother" when she was fourteen, so she was very fond of the two horses. Bjorn just had a way of listening to her, which is partially why she did not judge Kristoff for his strange interactions with his reindeer, Sven.

Bjorn's brother, Loki, was Elsa's horse. There was actually a good, and very sweet, story behind the two, actually:

* * *

It was always a tradition in the royal family for the ruling monarch and the heir apparent to have white horses. So, when these two colts were brought into the castle, everyone assumed that Bjorn would be Princess Elsa's. However, when the King managed to convince a rather nervous seventeen-year-old princess to come outside to see the young horses, something else, yet remarkable, happened.

It should be mentioned first that Loki, the younger of the two, was not named ironically. The horse had been a troublemaker from birth. He, unlike Bjorn, was a dark grey colour, and was meant for Princess Anna after he had finally been trained.

So it came to everyone's surprise when, upon spotting the fearful elder princess, he stopped harassing his brother and slowly went over to where she was standing near the fence. The young horse was just a bit taller than her, so they had near perfect eye contact. Amazingly, Elsa did not recoil from the approaching colt, and instead stood still and waited for him to come close. He seemed to notice the fear in her eyes, so he stopped at a reasonable distance to let her get closer to him if she chose it.

She remained where she was, a look of uncertainty on her face, and her arms crossed tightly across her front. Loki whinnied softly. He cocked his head in curiosity, as if wondering why she seemed so scared. Suddenly, his ears perked up as if he had an idea, and he bounded off toward the stables.

Elsa watched him go as a tiny bit of hurt mixed into her face. Then, Loki returned carrying something in his mouth. He returned to the place he had stopped before, lowered his head and dropped a rubber ball onto the ground. He then nudged it forward just enough for it to roll out of the corral and stop at Elsa's feet. She looked down at the ball, and then up at him. He whinnied again, and motioned his head as if to say, "Go ahead. Pick it up."

Elsa hesitantly complied. Once she held the ball in her gloved hand, she looked back up at the horse for instruction. He responded with another head motion: "Throw it."

She gulped and quickly glanced around to see if anyone was watching her. She then lightly tossed the ball back into corral, and Loki went speeding after it. He caught it quickly, then trotted back to his spot and rolled the ball to her again. The corners of her mouth began to curl upward as she reached down and picked up the ball. This time, she threw it a bit harder, and Loki returned the favour by chasing it with even more energy.

After about the fifth throw, Elsa was smiling. Loki managed to catch the sixth throw in mid-air, and his resulting celebration actually made the girl laugh. She had not quite realized it yet, but she had slowly made her way over to the fence of the corral. She only noticed when she went to take another step and was stopped by the thick wooden beam across the top of it.

Loki walked over to her calmly, forgetting the ball on the ground. Elsa was about to take a step back, but a reassuring whiny stopped her. She stared into the colt's big, lovable brown eyes, and smiled again. Slowly, she reached out a shaky hand. It froze inches from Loki's muzzle, but with a gentle nudge, he completed the touch.

Elsa's smile grew as she stroked his nose. She then carefully reached behind his ear and apparently found a spot he absolutely _loved_ to have scratched. She laughed as he practically melted under her touch, the fear in her eyes now completely gone.

Little did she know that her father and the stable master were watching from afar, both with equally stunned faces. "Well I'll be damned," the stable master muttered.

King Adgar merely nodded in agreement, trying to hide his tears of immense joy in seeing his daughter out of her shell. It had only been a few weeks since her nervous breakdown, and he had read somewhere that animals were often good companions for people who might be stressed out. Upon seeing this interaction, he wanted to greatly reward that author; he did not know his daughter could still laugh like that.

He turned to the stable master, and said, "I think I would like to change a tradition…"

* * *

Anna knew that Loki was Elsa's horse, and she _had_ heard the story of how that came to be, but she never really believed it. Loki acted like his namesake except for the times he was with Elsa. That had always been, and no one knew why. Even to Anna, Loki was an annoyance. She only understood when she finally saw horse and owner together, after the Great Thaw. She had managed to convince Elsa to go for a ride, although she did not need much convincing. Anna waited for Loki to do something crazy as he always did whenever someone approached him, and she gasped in awe as the two embraced each other like old friends. They were both so different in each other's presences: Loki was calm and well mannered, while Elsa was happy and confident. Anna finally realized then that the two really were meant for one another.

That did not mean that Bjorn was not a good match for her. He took immediate liking to the younger princess when they met the first time. He was patient and loving, and sort of reminded her of her sister in his mannerisms. He became her closest confidant next to the paintings in the castle gallery, and once again, she found herself talking to him.

"You should have seen her. I…I had never seen her like that before, and it really scared me," she said as she brushed his white fur. She glanced over at Loki, and asked, "I don't suppose you know anything about it, do you?"

Loki merely snorted and shook his head in derision.

"Some help _you_ are," Anna muttered. She turned her attention back to Bjorn, and continued, "I just… I felt so _helpless_. Whenever I tried to make it better the way I know how, it seemed to make her worse! And then when I didn't do anything, and just sat there like an idiot, she said that it made her feel better!"

Bjorn nuzzled her cheek for comfort, sensing she was upset.

"I've never had to deal with anything like that before. And the fact that it's _Elsa_ that it happened to only makes it worse." She laughed dryly. "I would have been able to deal with this if it was some sort of curse placed upon her by an angry wizard or something, but it's not… It's her mind…something that can't be easily fixed."

She was quiet for a second before a crazy idea came crashing into her. "Wait!" she gasped, "The mind _can_ be easily fixed! Grand Pabbie did it once, maybe he can do it again!"

Bjorn gave her a nervous whiny. "Oh, don't be such a downer," Anna scolded as she went for his saddle and bridle.

He shook his head back and forth as if to say, "This is a terrible idea."

"Well, it's not like I'm going to tell her right away. I'll just go to the trolls and see if it is possible. If it is, then I'll ask Elsa. Just think, she can get a whole new set of memories and she won't be hurt by the past anymore… I can have my sister back!"

She finished saddling Bjorn and led him out to the courtyard. It was colder than the day before, and Anna was wearing only minimal winter clothing because she had thought she was only going to be making the quick journey to the stables, but she decided that she did not have time to change. She glanced up at the clear blue sky. "I should have time to get there before the storm hits," she said confidently, "It's always warm in the Valley, anyway."

She mounted Bjorn and drove him forward, out the gates and, eventually, out of town and into the forest. Loki watched them go until they were out of sight, before letting out an anxious whiny. He could sense a change in the weather, and was worried for both his brother and the princess.


	5. Chapter 5

"O…ok, m…maybe I sh…should have dr…dressed warmer…r," Anna said through chattering teeth. She had made it about a quarter of the way up the mountain, and already the sky had turned dark with grey clouds. The temperature had dropped, as well. She thought about turning back, but her determination to help her sister drove her forward. "At least it c…could be w…worse," she said to her horse, "Th…there could be a…a lot of sn…snow, l…like last time we hiked up th…the mountain together."

Just as she spoke, flurries began to fall from the sky. Bjorn whinnied nervously. "No, we have to keep going," Anna responded to his protest, "We have to help Elsa." A cold wind blew past her, forcing a sharp shiver up her spine. "She's probably going to kill me for being out here during a storm, but she'll thank me for it later."

* * *

Meanwhile, back in Arendelle, Elsa stood at the window of her study once again, this time watching the dark clouds beginning to descend upon her kingdom. She felt her own storm brewing inside of her, strongly suggesting that she allow it to join with this one. She took a deep breath and muttered, "Love, remember love." That seemed to ease the swirling inside of her for the time being, but it was not enough to allow her to sit back down and work. She was just too anxious.

"Hi, Elsa!" cried a cheery voice from behind her.

She turned with a smile to see Olaf waddling into her study. "Hello, Olaf," she said warmly, "How are you?"

"I'm great, thanks for asking," he replied, "But what about you? You seem kind of…oh, what's the word I'm looking for here…antsy."

"Oh, well, I suppose I am," Elsa sighed, "It's this storm. I'll feel much better once it's passed over."

"Well, if that's the problem, then why don't you just stop it?" he asked innocently, "I mean, you can do all sorts of amazing things with your powers. I'm sure you can send that storm packing, too."

"I…I can't, Olaf."

"Of course you can! You're Queen Elsa, the Snow Queen! If you can make a snowstorm, then you can stop one. Especially now that you know that Love with thaw…"

"No, I mean I _can't_, Olaf. I have the ability, yes, but…"

"But what?"

Elsa sighed heavily. "My powers continue to grow stronger," she said quietly, "I don't know when they're going to stop, if they're ever going to stop at all. Considering what I can do now, I…I'm afraid of what else I'm eventually going to be capable of." She looked back at the living, _sentient_ snowman she had created completely by accident. "I know Anna jokes about it sometimes, but…what if I'm _not_ mortal?"

Olaf scoffed. "Well, who cares? You're still Elsa, whether you're mortal or not," he told her gently, "I'm actually kind of glad you're so powerful, because if you weren't, I wouldn't be here to cheer you up!"

Elsa laughed softly. "I suppose that's one good thing that came out of my powers."

"But what does that have to do with the storm?"

"I may have to eventually accept that my power might be something more than just simple sorcery. But what I will have a harder time accepting is how people will react to me. I…I can barely tolerate people fawning over me as a queen – how can I manage if they see me as a god? I…I don't _want_ that much power. So if I start altering nature's order _now_, then what kind of image am I creating for myself?"

Elsa stared out the window again as snow began to fall. She could sense the storm's power in her body now, and she prayed that people took heed of her warnings. She certainly was conflicted: with a flick of her hand, the storm would be dispelled, yet she did not wish to display _that much_ of her power. Creating a snowstorm and stopping it all from her own hand was one thing, but disrupting the Laws of Nature was another.

She was pulled from her deep thought by a small, gentle hand coming to rest on her arm. She looked down at the hand made of twigs, and then to its owner. "It's ok, Elsa," Olaf told her, "You used your powers to warn people, and that was more than enough. If you _really_ didn't want to intervene, you wouldn't have even done _that_."

"Your right, Olaf," she sighed, "Thanks."

"No problem!" he said, his happy energy returning to him, "Now, let's play a game or something to get your mind off all this storm stuff." He spotted the chess set near the fireplace. "Ooh, ooh! Let's play the game with the horses and the castles! I think I'm improving from the last time we played it!"

"Oh?" Elsa laughed as she followed him to the board game, "Is that so?"

"Yeah! I even managed to beat Anna! She's not very good at it."

At this, Elsa laughed for real. "Yeah, I've played a few games with her, and well… She may have inherited his hair but she certainly didn't receive Papa's chess abilities."

"Kristoff even beat her at a game once. She wasn't too happy about that…" Olaf took a seat at the chess table. "Ok, you can be white, since you are the Snow Queen, after all."

Elsa smiled as she sat down. "But you're a _snow_man," she reminded him.

He thought for a minute. "Hmm, good point. How 'bout we switch each game?"

"Deal."

* * *

"Oh, wow, it got dark," Anna observed as she squinted into the forest ahead of her. Between the snow that was steadily picking up, the wind blowing it around, the ever darkening sky and the thick canopy of the tall pines, seeing anything further than a few feet in any direction was next to impossible.

Bjorn whinnied and shifted uneasily. Anna was lost now. She had wandered off the trail about an hour ago, and now she had no idea which way led to the Valley of the Living Rock. "Would you stop complaining and let me think!" she snapped, "Let's see, I think the North Mountain is that way… And we came from that way… And that means home might be…that way… Ugh! This was a bad idea!"

Bjorn snorted in annoyance. "Ok, ok, next time I'll listen to you!" Anna told him.

Suddenly, they heard the distant sound of wolves howling into the dark. Anna felt Bjorn tense underneath her. That was the only problem with him: he was easily spooked. A small branch suddenly broke off a nearby tree, and the sound caused him to jump. Anna held on tightly, and patted his neck to calm him down. "Easy, buddy. It's just a branch. I imagine quite a few will be breaking off in this storm."

Just as the words left her mouth, a particularly strong gust of wind whipped past them. An old, dead tree could not take the strain of the ice and wind, and snapped at the base. It came crashing down just feet away from them, sending snow and wood splinters flying.

That was more than enough for Bjorn. He reared up and Anna was flung off his back and into a nearby snowdrift. She dug herself out in time to see his white form disappear into the darkness. "Wait! Bjorn! … Don't do this to me _again_!" she called after him. He did not reply – he was too caught up in his terror to go back to her.

Anna heard the wolves again, and swore they sounded closer. "Oh, this is bad," she muttered nervously.


	6. Chapter 6

Elsa and Olaf were finishing up their third game. "Ok, so if I move my horsey here… Does that mean I've won?" he asked as he set his knight down on the board.

Elsa did not answer right away. She was too busy trying to figure out how _Olaf_ of all people managed to put her in checkmate. Sure, he had won the first two games, too, but she had let him win then. There was something about him that would not allow her to go anything but soft on him. But this game she had actually tried, and he still managed to corner her king.

"Elsa?" he asked her with concern, "You ok?"

She shook her head. "What? Oh, yes," she said as she lightly flicked her king over, "Congratulations, Olaf, you win again."

"Are you letting me win?" he wondered suspiciously.

"I wasn't that time," she answered honestly.

He continued to eye her funnily for a minute, before perking right back up again. "Ok, then! So what do you say: another round? Maybe this time you can beat me."

Elsa laughed. "Oh, you are so on," she said confidently.

Before they could set up another game, a very winded Kai came bursting through the doors. "Y…your Majesty," he panted, "There's a problem."

Elsa immediately rose from her seat. "What sort of problem, Kai?" she demanded anxiously, seeing his panicked face.

"It's…it's Princess Anna's horse…"

"Bjorn? What's wrong with him? Is he sick? Hurt?" Elsa questioned, genuinely worried for the horse.

"No, no, he's…returned from out of the blue. The stable master didn't even know that he had been taken out until an hour ago, or so. He just assumed that the Princess took him around the town to check on everyone before the storm, but…" He trailed off when he saw Elsa's face turn snow white.

"Where is Anna?" she barely whispered.

"Th…that's just it, your Majesty," Kai stammered, "She wasn't with him when he returned. He seemed right terrified, though, so we might have to assume that he threw her…"

"What?" Elsa exclaimed, "Search the village! What if she's hurt? We have to find her before the worst of the storm comes!"

Suddenly, a young boy easily recognizable as a stable hand appeared. "M…Master Kai! Master Ivar told me to show you this," he said as he held up a broken piece of a pine bow, "He…he said he found it stuck in Bjorn's bridle."

"Let me see that," Elsa commanded.

The boy flinched and promptly handed her the twig. "These trees are only found in the mountains," she told Kai, "Which means…" She suddenly turned to the terrified stable hand. "Get my horse ready. I'll be down in a few minutes."

"Y…yes, your Majesty, Queen Elsa, Ma'am," he stammered before sprinting off to his task.

"You aren't seriously going after her, are you?" Kai gasped.

He found himself caught under her cold glare. "She did the same for me," she reminded him.

"Yes, and look at how well that–" He stopped himself before he said anything that would get him turned into a flash-frozen butler. "But you are the _Queen_, Elsa. We cannot afford to lose you." By that point, she had already left the study and was heading toward the main door to the courtyard. He struggled to keep up with her fast pace.

"You won't," she told him as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Yeah, let's go save Anna!" Olaf cried happily.

"Actually, Olaf, I think it's best if you stay here," Elsa told him gently.

"But, I want to help."

"I know, and I appreciate it, but I can move faster on my own. And I don't want you getting lost in that blizzard."

He sighed heavily. "Ok, Elsa," he agreed.

"Besides, I need you here in case Anna comes back. You can keep her company and let her know that I haven't run off again," she told him, trying to make light of the situation.

He nodded. "Will do!" he said with a mock salute, "You can count on me, Elsa."

She smiled again. "Thank you, Olaf."

Kai then returned. He had used their brief discussion to go and retrieve a thick, dark blue wool cloak. He handed it to her, and said, "I know you don't need it, but it will put my mind at ease to see you wear it anyway."

She accepted the cloak and put it on. "Thank you, Kai," she said gratefully.

"Your Majesty? You horse is ready!"

"I still don't understand why _you_ need to go," he fretted, "We could find her faster if we sent the guards out…"

"I'm _not_ risking anyone's life out in that weather, Kai," she told him sternly, "The worst of it will be here soon. The blinding snow and bitter wind will be one thing, but the temperature is going to drop so low that exposed skin will freeze in minutes. I am the only one who has a chance of surviving out there."

With that, she turned and headed outside. Loki was waiting for her, digging his front hoof into the ground with concern. She gracefully mounted him and pulled the hood of the cloak over her head. She turned back to Kai and Olaf, who were standing in the doorway. "Look after Arendelle while I'm gone, Kai. Please," she called over the wind.

"I will, your Majesty," he assured her, "And Elsa! Please, be safe."

She nodded. "I will. And I'll bring Anna back as quickly as I can. I promise."

With that, she snapped the reigns and she and Loki took off into the storm.


	7. Chapter 7

Anna hoped that following Bjorn's footprints would lead her home. Apparently, the last time he threw her off, he returned to the village with relative ease. If she had any luck left, he had gotten home this time and his tracks would help her find it herself.

Unfortunately, the task was getting increasingly difficult as more snow fell. Soon, the hoof prints were more like small indentations in the snow that could have been made by anything.

Anna groaned before she shivered. She never should have gone with this storm, and by this point she was prepared to sit through whatever harsh, "What were you thinking?" speech her sister had for her if she could just listen to it in front of a warm fire. "How did I even manage to find Oaken's last time?" she muttered to herself.

She stopped to take in her surroundings again. The wind had died down slightly, so the first thing she noticed was that the forest was quiet…too quiet. She gulped. The last time she ever heard the woods _this_ silent was when she and Kristoff were heading up the mountain, and they ran into…

She froze when she saw a pair of yellow eyes creeping slowly toward her. She shifted her gaze, and spotted another two pairs. She glanced again, and saw another three. She slowly took a step back as the pack of wolves began to encircle her. "N…nice doggies," she said as soothingly as she could, "Y…you wouldn't happen to know how to get back to Arendelle, would you?"

The alpha snarled before leading the attack. "I guess not," Anna stated before she turned and sprinted as fast as she could into the forest.

* * *

Loki's hooves tore through the snow. Elsa was also following Bjorn's footprints, just up the mountain instead of down. She held tightly onto the reins in one hand, and a lantern she had picked up at the outpost on the town limits in the other. She was thankful that she did accept the light source, as it was so dark in the forest it had might as well have been midnight.

"Come on, Boy, faster!" she urged Loki. He gave her a faithful whinny in reply and picked up his speed.

Elsa was not the greatest rider in the world, mostly due to the fact that she had rarely ever ridden a horse until she was queen. If it were any other stallion, she would have been on the ground by now. But Loki knew her like none other; he knew exactly what she was capable of handling, and right at this moment, there was not much she could not deal with.

And so they raced through the forest with grace and agility, dodging trees and leaping over fallen logs and ravines. At one point they reached a clump of trees with multiple low-hanging branches. Loki did not slow down, nor did Elsa hesitate to blast the branches with magic strong enough to turn the wood into solid, brittle ice. With another sweep of her hand, their path was clear.

Eventually, the falling snow had made following the tracks nearly impossible. A few miles back, Elsa had quieted the wind so she could at least see where she was going. Now, it no longer mattered. Loki slowed down and sniffed the ground, hoping to find some sort of trail. Elsa looked into the trees. "Anna!" she called out, "Anna, can you hear me?"

* * *

"Anna!"

Anna gasped. She could have sworn she heard her name, but it was too far away for her to be really sure. She could have just imagined it, seeing as her main priority at the current moment was to try and outrun a pack of wolves.

Not watching where she was going, she ran right into a large bramble bush. Determined not to let it slow her down, she pushed through, not before it tore at her clothes and skin. She stumbled out of it and kept running, the snarling wolves at her heels.


	8. Chapter 8

Loki suddenly jumped and brought his nose up from the ground. He turned and gave Elsa a worried look. She looked down at the ground before tugging on the reins to make him stop. She hopped down and further studied the fresher prints. There were two sets: one was human, and one was canine. She gasped and frantically looked around. There were more wolf prints than human, but there was no blood or a sign of a struggle. They all went off in one direction, into a thicker stretch of trees.

"She went this way," Elsa said hurriedly, "And she's definitely in trouble."

Loki nuzzled her in the back, urging her to get on and keep going. "No, the forest is too thick for you to easily move through," she told him, "I'll go on foot."

With that, she waved her hands and a small building made of crystal-like ice rose up from the ground. It was a basic shelter, with a small window high enough for Loki to see out of and doors with her signature snowflake motif on the front. "This should keep you safe until I get back," she told him as she guided him into the icy stable.

He whinnied in protest and gently nipped at her hood to hold her back. "It's ok, Loki," she assured him, "I'll be back soon, I promise."

She then left, closing the doors behind her. She looked at him once more, before creating a hook out of the wall and hanging the lantern off of it. "I know you don't like the dark," she whispered, "This should give you some comfort."

With that, she turned and quickly headed into the forest, following the footprints. It was not long before she came across a bramble bush, and discovered a piece of brightly coloured fabric hanging off a particularly sharp branch. "Anna," she whispered before calling out again, "Anna!"

* * *

Anna heard it that time: a voice that sounded very much like her sister calling her name. She would have shouted back, but she was too winded to try. She had to keep running to lose the wolves, which were gaining fast.

She went to take another step when suddenly her foot made contact with nothing. She squealed as she tumbled over a small cliff she had not seen until it was too late. It was not really that high, but she still landed funny on one leg. She got up and tried to run, but fell immediately down again as pain shot up from her right ankle.

She turned around in time to see the wolves slowly making their way down the rock face. She got to her feet and limped as best as she could, only to make it about five steps and realize that the first cliff was just a step down to the ledge of a much larger one. She nervously looked down the steep, thirty-foot gorge, where a deep, frigid river snaked through at its base. She did not really feel like going for a swim, especially since the air temperature was plummeting.

She turned back to face the wolves again. "Help!" she cried out, hoping to God that Elsa could hear her.

* * *

Fortunately, Elsa _could_ hear her sister. She was even close enough to hear the surprised squeal she had let out as she fell over the first cliff. Upon hearing that, Elsa broke out in a run toward the sound, not even caring about the branches that reached out to try and stop her.

"Help!"

'_No, no!'_ Elsa thought frantically, '_Hang in there, Anna. I'm coming! I will _not_ lose you again!'_

Luckily, she saw the first drop before reaching it, and came skidding to a halt just before the edge. She looked down to see six hungry wolves cornering her sister on the edge of a gorge. Anna had not seen her yet – she was too preoccupied by other things. Elsa was about to climb down when she noticed one wolf about to lunge forward. She spotted a rock on the level she was on that hung over the hunters and quickly made her decision.

Anna also noticed the alpha preparing to jump at her. She whimpered and closed her eyes, accepting that this was probably it. It snarled, pushed off the ground, and…yelped in surprise. Anna opened her eyes to see the wolf picking itself off the ground, shaking off a healthy pile of snow. She then noticed a new form standing before her, placing itself protectively between her and the wolves.

"Elsa!" she cried happily. She then noticed that there was something different about her sister. Elsa was not standing tall and regal as she normally did. She did not have a serene, emotionless expression on her face. She did not even possess the air of fear and worry that sometimes surrounded her like an aura during moments of stress. No, now she was standing firmly in place, her body lowered into a protective stance with both arms outstretched and ready for action. Her face was frozen with a scarily determined glare, her sapphire eyes nearly glowing with her power as they darted around the semicircle of wolves, looking for the next challenger. The way the wind blew her platinum hair around her face, and the way the snow swirled around the folds of her dark blue cloak, forced Anna to remember that although Elsa was a Queen and a loving sister, also hidden inside of her _was_ an Ice Witch – a _very_ powerful Ice Witch.

Another wolf began to take a run at them, and it was promptly sent flying backward by another blast of snow. Elsa waved her hand and a wall of spikes shot up from the ground. None of them actually touched the wolves, but it created an effective barrier.

Elsa hoped it would be enough to frighten them off, but they were a stubborn pack. Two more leapt over the spikes and lunged at her. A blunt block of ice came out of the ground and knocked one away, but the other managed to elude her strike and jumped toward her. A long, club like icicle formed in her hands within a second, and with a powerful swing, she batted it away from her. "Whoa," Anna gasped, suddenly realizing how Kristoff had felt when she had clubbed that one wolf with his lute a few months back.

She caught a brief amused glance from her sister, before Elsa's attention was quickly drawn away by the alpha. He had recovered, and with a furious growl, he lunged toward her hoping to catch her off-guard. She spun around just in time to force the icicle into its jaws. Standing on its hind legs, it was about as tall as her, and twice as big, yet she seemed to be able to hold her own against the massive creature as it tried to bite through the ice lodged between its teeth.

She was pushed back slightly, and when she noticed that Anna was being exposed to a new attack, she clenched her teeth together in anger and determination. She pushed her arms forward, and the wolf was thrown several feet away and into the rock face. Anna looked from it to her sister, her jaw hanging open in shock.

Before she could make a comment, another wolf attacked. Elsa knocked it away with the icicle as well, but the tooth marks left in it had created deep enough score lines to have it shatter when it met the wolf's head. She chucked the tip of it away from her and raised her arms defensively once again.

This time, the wolves understood that they needed to be careful. It did not mean that they gave up – they just needed a plan. Two on either side began to push forward from the left and right, while the remaining two began to advance down the middle. Elsa was now breathing heavily as she once again had to continuously refocus on a target, trying to anticipate which one would make a move first. She took a step back to decrease the open space between her and her sister, thus making it harder for the wolves to reach the princess.

Anna nervously looked around, trying to do the same as her sister. But the snow had picked up again, and it was difficult for her to see. Then, before any wolf could make a move, she heard the sound of rocks crumbling underneath her. The edge of the cliff she was standing on suddenly gave, and she was sent falling into the gorge. She let out a surprised scream, while Elsa whipped around to watch her go. "Anna!" she cried. She reached out to grab her, but was a second too late.

Fortunately, Anna managed to grab hold of a dead tree just feet below the edge. "I'm ok," she called up to her sister. She heard the branch beginning to break, so she added nervously, "Although, you might want to hurry up!"

Elsa was about to help when a large, furry force sent her to the ground. The wolf pinned her down with its paws on her chest, and was about to clamp down on her neck with its teeth when she swung her hand toward it. A blast of arctic wind and snow sent it off of her. It had had enough, and went racing off into the forest. Another one followed after it.

The remaining four circled the sorceress. She tried the wall of spikes again, this time aiming a little closer to them. It seemed to work, as some of the icicles managed to poke at their faces before they even realized what was happening. With panicked whimpers, they fell back after the others.

Elsa quickly went to the edge of the cliff and reached down to Anna. "Take my hand," she ordered.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you," Anna told her as she stretched one arm up as high as it could go.

"Could we maybe save this exchange until _after_ you're no longer dangling over a gorge?" Elsa asked, forming a secure icicle for one hand to hold onto so she could lean as far down as possible to be able to reach with the other.

"Yeah, that would–" Anna began before she saw a distinct pair of yellow eyes glowering at them from above. The alpha of the pack clearly had not had enough, and returned to strike at a better angle. "Elsa, behind you!" Anna shouted.

Elsa turned just in time to see the wolf leap down from the rock face and clamp his sharp teeth down on her exposed arm. She let out a painful cry as the wolf shook his head and flung her to the edge of the cliff. She tried to stop herself from going over, but there was nothing to grab onto, and she fell over the side.

Anna could only watch helplessly as her sister fell into the dark ravine. She at least hoped that the water would break her fall, but as soon as Elsa's body touched the surface, ice shot out in every direction and froze the entire river solid. All Anna heard was a low thud, and as the puff of snow cleared, she spotted the dark shape of her sister's motionless body.

"ELSA!" she screamed, tears streaming down her face. She then heard a loud _snap_, and the branch she was holding onto began to give way. "No, no, no, please no."


	9. Chapter 9

Down on the now frozen river, Elsa stirred, having heard her sister's desperate cry. She slowly pushed herself to her hands and knees, holding her head gently and trying to regain her bearings. The world was fuzzy and her body ached from the hard strike on the ground, but otherwise, she was fine.

_Snap!_

She looked up when she heard Anna's terrified scream. Despite her distorted vision, she knew the branch had given way, and she could see the blurry form of her sister beginning to fall thirty feet toward solid ice.

Five-year-old Anna's voice suddenly filled her mind: "_Catch me!"_

"ANNA!" she shouted as she instinctively reached out and fired a beam of snow out of her hand. It and Anna seemed to meet at the same point right above the ground, and her vision finally cleared just in time to see Anna disappear into a pile of fresh snow.

There was a silent moment that felt like an eternity. Then Elsa forced her sore body to get up and raced over to the pile. She dropped to her knees upon reaching it and started to frantically dig through it. "Anna? Anna! Please, _please_ be ok."

Suddenly, a ball of snow appeared out of nowhere and smacked her in the face. Taken aback, she paused her desperate search, which gave Anna enough time to dig herself out. She beamed at her sister with the same smile she always had whenever she managed to land a hit from a snowball on the Snow Queen. Before she could say anything, she was smothered in a tight hug.

"Elsa… Can't…breathe," she struggled to say, flailing her arms around like a mad woman.

Elsa pulled away, but kept a firm grasp on both shoulders. "Are you ok?" she asked anxiously, beginning to search for any sign of injury, "Were you hurt? Did they bite you? Anything broken? _Did I hit you_?"

"Elsa, calm down!" Anna said as she pulled her sister's hands, which had been searching for any hint of white, off of her head, "No, nothing serious. I think I sprained my ankle, but other than that…"

Elsa sighed in relief, before that relief quickly turned to anger. "What the _Hell_ were you thinking?" she demanded, once again placing both hands on Anna's shoulders and forcefully holding her in place, "After all of my warnings, you still decide to go gallivanting out into the woods right before a massive, killer snowstorm–" She froze in terror before looking fearfully up at the sky. "The storm!" she exclaimed, "Come on, we have to get you home."

She helped Anna up to shaky feet. Before Anna could ask how they were going to get out, Elsa stomped her foot into the ground. A snowflake design appeared under them, and then a perfectly circular crack encompassed the snowflake. Elsa followed with an action that looked like she was literally pulling the ice upwards, and Anna felt the ice shift before the circle began to rise up and out of the gorge.

Elsa made the pillar as high as the top level of rocks above the cliff, and with a wave of her hand, created a decorative bridge of ice for them to cross over to the forest. Elsa went first, gesturing for Anna not to follow until she was sure the wolves were gone. She went back to the platform and Anna, who was grasping onto the railing of the bridge for support. "How easily can you walk?" she asked with concern.

"Oh, I'm fine," Anna said nonchalantly, trying to play it off, "I sprain my ankles all the time." She took a step onto her injured foot and immediately regretted it.

Suddenly, the weight was taken off of it, and she found herself being carried quite effortlessly by her older sister. "Wow, you're a lot stronger than you look," she remarked in surprise, "The only other person who can carry me this easily is Kristoff."

Elsa blushed slightly in embarrassment. "I've always…sort of…been able to carry you easily," she admitted as she walked through the forest.

"Really? But, you haven't carried me since I was really little."

"Actually," Elsa sighed, "Do you remember those times you fell asleep outside my door?"

"Yeah. I'd always somehow end up in my bed. I just assumed Papa or Kai carried me back… Was it _you_?"

Elsa nodded with a small smile. "Sometimes it really was them," she said, "But on certain nights, especially ones in the winter when I knew the hallways were really cold, I would find enough courage to take you back to your room and tuck you into bed, the way you always used to like it."

Anna gasped. "So _that's_ why my blankets were all layered properly, and my stuffed animals were all there," she said, "Papa could _never_ get the order right, but you…" She snuggled closer to her sister, as the cold was finally beginning to get to her. "Thank you, Elsa," she sighed.

Elsa smiled, but still looked at her with concern. She really wished she could physically detect the cold so that she could know just how low Anna's body temperature had dropped. What worried her even more was that she knew that whenever she panicked, _her own_ body temperature dropped terribly.

Seeming to sense her anxiety, Anna murmured, "It's ok, Elsa. You're actually really warm right now. It's nice."

Elsa was both comforted and made more fearful by that statement. She appreciated the soft words, but the slightly delirious delivery meant that Anna was succumbing to the cold faster than she first thought.

Thankfully, she made it to Loki's shelter. The horse practically burst out of the door and raced toward her, nuzzling her cheek affectionately. He then looked down at Anna, who was beginning to slip into unconsciousness, and whinnied with worry.

"I know, Buddy," Elsa sighed as she removed her cloak and wrapped it around her sister, "We have to hurry."

She lifted Anna up onto Loki's back before climbing up herself. She guided him over to the shelter, grabbed the lantern, and then urged him onward toward home. The ride was smoother than the ride there, since she now had to hold onto Anna as well as the lantern and the reins. The snow was coming down even harder now, and the wind had picked up enough to create a near whiteout. Anna shivered furiously in Elsa's arms, and suddenly the thought of having to watch her sister freeze to death _again_ was the only thing on Elsa's mind.

As they pressed onward, it became clear very quickly that there was no distinguishable trail home. They continued blindly forward; Elsa figured that as long as they headed downhill, they would eventually reach one of the roads that extended out from the fjord.

Just then, a powerful blast of wind blinded them with snow. Loki backed up a few steps in surprise, and Elsa protectively used her own body to shelter Anna from the frigid gust. The lantern, however, was not so easily spared, and was extinguished. Elsa pitched the useless instrument to the ground in anger. Now they were lost in the woods with no light source, and night was quickly descending upon an already darkened land.

Right as she was about to lose hope – and break her vow to never tamper with Nature's weather – Elsa noticed something. It was a rock formation in a strange shape. In the light of the lamp, she would not have recognized it, but she _did_ remember its darkened outline. She had seen it before when she had fled into the mountains on the night of her coronation.

"Come on, Loki," she said urgently, "This way."

She guided him down the steepening terrain. He did not vocalize his concern once, and trusted her sure voice. She was so certain that this would work that she completely forgot about one problem until it came racing up to greet her: she had run across the fjord.

As Loki came screaming to a halt at the water's edge, she looked desperately around. The inlet had not frozen yet, and there was no quick way around. Arendelle was so close, yet so far away. The horse turned and began to head toward the fastest route home, before Elsa stopped him. She was still staring at the castle just across the fjord. With a flick of her wrist, four beams of ice magic were sent toward Loki's hooves. He whinnied in surprise as icy horseshoes formed on his feet.

"It'll be ok, Buddy, I promise," she assured him as she guided him down to the water's edge.

He snorted and shook his head. "Hey, I've done this before. It'll work," she told him, "Look, we don't have any more time to waste. We have to get Anna home, _now_. Please, Loki, just trust me."

He glanced up at her and nodded with a determined eye. He neighed triumphantly before racing headlong toward the inlet. The moment the ice horseshoes touched the water, an otherworldly, glowing snowflake spread across the surface, turning the water to ice thick enough for a horse to stand on. Horse and rider's confidences growing, their speed increased until they were thundering across the fjord.

Elsa changed her path only slightly from her original route, guiding Loki around the castle toward the docks instead of the back exit she had escaped from the first time. With one motion, there was a step of ice from the water to the dock, and they wasted no time in scaling it and heading to the bridge that connected the village to the castle. Elsa cast a brief look behind her, and to her relief, the icy prints on the water were disappearing.

A guard stuck his head out of the gatehouse upon hearing an approaching horse, and when he spotted them, he cried out, "It's the Queen! She has the Princess!"

Guards and castle staff began to come out of their hiding places to gather around them. Loki came to a stop near the castle entrance, and Elsa immediately jumped off with Anna in her arms. "Elsa! Erm, I…I mean, your Majesty!" Kai exclaimed as he threw the doors open for her, "Thank goodness!"

He took Anna from her, noticing that the princess was now wearing the cloak he had given Elsa to stay warm. He cast her a quick glance, and she shrugged. "She needed it more than I did, Kai," she told him, "Now take her inside and get her somewhere warm, please. I shall be in shortly."

"Yes, your Majesty," he said obediently, until he spotted blood coming from Elsa's arm, "Wh…what happened to you?"

"It's a long story, Kai! _Please_ just see to Anna first."

"Alright, but I'm calling the castle doctor regardless."

Elsa sighed heavily before leading Loki back to the stables herself. He nuzzled her shoulder, as if he was telling her to go after her sister. She quickly threw her arms around his neck, and murmured, "Thank you, my friend. I could not have done this without you."

He whinnied softly. She pulled back and stated, "I owe you a whole bucket of apples, Loki. I'll see you soon, alright? And I promise the visit will include a status report."

He nodded his head before gently pushing her toward the castle. She smiled at him, quickly dispelled all the guards and made everyone go back inside, and headed into the castle to find Anna.


	10. Chapter 10

Anna groaned in pain as she slowly came to. Her weary eyes flickered open to a dimly lit room. The fireplace nearby was roaring, and created wonderful warmth that filled her whole bedroom. She was lying in her bed, and figured that all of her thickest blankets had been piled on top of her to warm her up.

There was a foreign weight resting near her, and as she began to push herself up, she could better make out what it was, or rather, _who_ it was. Elsa was kneeling beside the bed, her head resting in her arms on the edge. She was sound asleep, although from the dark semicircles under her eyes, Anna figured that she had not been sleeping long. Elsa's hair was dishevelled and she had not bothered to change from the clothes she had been wearing when she saved Anna in the forest. The fabric was tattered and muddy – completely torn in some places. Anna felt the pang of guilt in her stomach grow worse when she noticed the bandages wrapped around Elsa's left arm.

Elsa stirred when she felt Anna's movement. She slowly opened her sapphire eyes to see her sister sitting up in her bed, looking over her with concern. Upon making eye contact, they both smiled at each other. Elsa sat up and arched her back to stretch it out. Anna winced when she heard a few unsettling popping sounds. Elsa then got up and sat down on the edge of the bed.

Anna giggled. "I didn't realize you got bedhead, too," she observed, noting how Elsa's bangs fell messily in front of her eyes. Elsa smiled before quickly running a hand through her hair. When she pulled it back, there was not a single strand that fell out of place. "What! How did you do that?" Anna demanded.

Elsa laughed softly. "Ice," she merely replied.

Anna stared at her for a minute while playing with her own tangled hair. "That's cheating," she eventually said.

Elsa shrugged and laughed again. There was a long moment of silence, where the only thing either of them did was stare at the other. Eventually, Elsa sighed, "Anna…"

"I know, I know," Anna interrupted, "I never should have done something so stupid. I should have told you where I was going. I should have waited until after the storm to leave the castle. I should have dressed warmer. I should have brought a map so I didn't get lost." She was counting off each "should have" on her fingers. "I should have–"

"Anna!"

Anna stopped to look into her sister's eyes. "Yes?" she asked, preparing for the worst.

"Just…just _don't_ ever do something like that again," Elsa said, her eyes filling up with pain.

"I'm sorry, Elsa," Anna said, hanging her head shamefully, "You must have been worried sick."

"Anna, I had to save you from freezing to death," she told her bluntly.

Anna winced, understanding just how much those words hurt both of them. "I'm _really_ sorry," she whispered.

"What were you thinking?" Elsa demanded, anger now beginning to fill the remaining space in her eyes, "You _knew_ about the storm! You knew how dangerous it was going to be! And yet you still rode off into the _forest_ of all places without any thought?"

"I…I wasn't–"

"Do you _ever_ think things through, Anna? This is the _second_ time you've gotten yourself lost in the mountains during a blizzard with no easy way out! Did _any_ more consideration go into this time than the last?"

"At least I wore winter clothing this time…"

"_At least_? A pair of mittens, a thin cloak and no hat _does not_ count as winter clothing, Anna!"

"It was better than a ball gown," Anna muttered.

"What were you doing that far up the mountain, anyway? Did you seriously get lost _that badly_ that you ended up traveling uphill to get home?"

"No, I–"

"What could have possibly been going through your head to travel that far?"

"Why are you yelling at me?"

"Because I was _scared_, Anna!" Elsa cried, "I was so afraid that I was going to lose you again! The only things I can think of right now are 'what if' scenarios: what if Bjorn hadn't returned home when he did? What if we didn't realize that he came from the mountains? What if those wolves got to you before I did? What if I didn't catch you…?" Elsa trailed off as her gaze once again landed on her sister. "Don't you see, Anna? I _can't_ lose you again," she whispered.

There was something about the way Elsa said "can't" that made Anna flinch. The stress on that single word told her that Elsa was not exaggerating – she literally could not take losing Anna again, and that knowledge made Anna's heart clench tightly. "Elsa, I'm really, really, _really_ sorry," she said as earnestly as she could.

Elsa sighed heavily. "Anna…"

"I _mean_ it, Elsa! I swear I'll never act before thinking ever again!"

Elsa was quiet for a few minutes, once again staring at her younger sister as if she was waiting for the universe to snatch her away. "Why were you out there, Anna?" she eventually asked.

"I…I was going to see the trolls," Anna admitted.

"The trolls? Why? And what was so important that it couldn't wait?"

"I wanted to help _you_, Elsa!" Anna told her defensively, tears beginning to form in her eyes, "I remember you telling me that Grand Pabbie did something to alter my memories, so I wanted to see if he could do the same thing for you – so I could get the old you back." She suddenly realized how that sounded, so she quickly clarified, "I…I mean, make it so that the past thirteen years of isolation never happened. You would never know the fear, and sadness, and guilt I know you're living with now, and…"

Elsa put a gentle hand on Anna's arm. "I appreciate the thought, Anna, but I don't want to forget the past thirteen years," she said softly.

"But _why_? They were terrible for me! Which means they must have been agony for you!"

Elsa bit her lip as she thought momentarily. "I'm not going to tell you that they weren't," she said carefully, "But I cannot forget the troll's prophecy about my powers. The past thirteen years have certainly shown me that my powers _are_ dangerous, and I cannot forget that, _ever_."

"But, Elsa–" Anna was suddenly cut short when Elsa raised her hand to stop her.

"But I learned something else over that time that would be lost if I forgot about all of the bad memories: I learned about _love_, Anna. First, about the love I have for others, especially you, Mama, and Papa. Then, I realized the love _you_ all had for _me_." She paused to draw out a long, shaky breath. "I thought I was a monster, Anna. And there are times when I still do. During some of my darkest moments, I could not comprehend why I had the comfortable, privileged life of a princess with a warm, happy family when I should have been treated like a witch or an animal. I didn't understand why I was never thrown in the dungeons, or tortured and beaten until my powers were under control by force – or why I wasn't just simply burned at the stake.

"But then it hit me after one _very_ dark night: despite what I was, you still _loved_ me – you, Mama, Papa, Kai, and Gerda… A…and that…that meant more to me than _anything_ in this world. It's what gave me strength to keep fighting, and to try and get my power under control. As long as there were people who I knew that cared about me, then I would not allow the darkness in my life to change the person they cared for."

Anna, for once, had no remark. She could not even bring herself to make a sound; she was so awed by her sister's words. She merely stared at the Queen with the utmost reverence. Eventually, Elsa's eyes shifted back and forth before she waved a pale hand in front of Anna's face. "Hey? You still in there?" she asked partly humorously, partly with concern.

"What? Oh, sorry," the Princess blushed, "I…I just… I never really thought of it that way, and…"

She was interrupted by a knock at the door. "Come in," Elsa called, and seconds later Gerda was entering the room.

"Oh, Princess Anna, it's good to see you awake, dear," she said as she walked over to the bed. She then turned to Elsa. "I came to see if there was anything you needed, your Majesty. Also, the Doctor did say that those bandages should be replaced every day or so, and I do believe it has been that long."

Elsa looked down hesitantly at her injured arm. "Oh, yes, thank you for reminding me, Gerda," she said quietly.

"I'll be happy to take those old wrappings now and I'll return with some fresh ones shortly. My mother always said that sometimes a wound heals fastest when it has a few moments to breathe," the maid replied gently.

She carefully helped Elsa unwrap her arm. Underneath the gauze there was a piece of bloodied cloth that she opted to leave so the wound stayed out of sight. Anna felt guilty again when she saw her sister wincing from the pain, obviously only revealing the tip of the iceberg on her face.

"There. I'll be back soon. Is there anything you would like, Princess?" Gerda asked as she turned to leave.

"Oh, no thank you, Gerda… At least, not right now," Anna answered, "I will probably want something to eat later, but right now I'm ok."

Gerda nodded before taking her leave. Anna then turned to Elsa. "So, is it really bad?" she wondered hesitantly.

Elsa looked at her arm again, and tenderly brushed her fingers over the piece of cloth. "It wasn't too serious," she told her, "They had to furiously clean it before cauterizing it because the Doctor was paranoid about rabies, but I doubt anything like that would happen. I think my body's too cold for infections to spread."

Anna winced. "Ouch, cauterization? I bet that must have hurt," she said lightly.

"Yeah," Elsa replied casually, "The Doctor's office is still coated in ice."

Anna could not help but laugh, despite feeling even worse about putting her sister into a situation that ended with such a painful procedure. "Can I see it?" she asked carefully.

Elsa looked away. "You don't want to, _trust me_," she responded.

"Come on, Elsa, you should have seen some of the scrapes I gave myself after crashing my bike so many times," Anna insisted, even extending one hand out to receive Elsa's arm, "Besides, I have to check something."

"Check what?" Elsa countered with an eyebrow raised.

"The shape of the bite marks. I need to make sure it wasn't a werewolf that got you," Anna answered matter-of-factly.

"Anna, werewolves don't exist."

"Says the ice-wielding sorceress."

"How would you even know the difference?"

"Um, my sister's a witch and my boyfriend's adopted family is a group of rock-trolls," Anna said with a laugh, "I think I know what I'm talking about."

Elsa looked like she had something to say, but chose not to. Instead she rolled her eyes and gently pulled the cloth away before allowing Anna to take her arm. Once the initial shock of seeing such ugly marks marring her sister's perfect skin had worn off, Anna just stared at the wound. It was not just an impression of teeth: because the wolf had grabbed on and threw her away, each tooth left a small line through her skin. Some were deeper than others, and the two that were obviously left from the fangs were the worst to see. It certainly did not help that the wounds had been cauterized, since the dark, almost black, burned flesh made Anna sick to her stomach.

To lighten the mood, she put on her mock-serious face and said, "Oh, yeah, this is bad. We're going to have to lock you in a closet during the next full moon."

Elsa laughed softly. "You will do no such thing," she told her, "Besides, it wasn't a full moon last night, which meant that there were no werewolves running around the forest when we were out there."

"Hmm, I guess that's true…" Anna then trailed off when her eyes spotted something she had never noticed before. "Hey, Elsa, what are these?" she questioned as she traced her fingers along two very similar scars on Elsa's wrist.

Elsa suddenly withdrew her hand rather quickly. "N…nothing," she snapped.

"They certainly didn't look like nothing…" Anna's eyes grew as wide as saucers with realization. "Oh my God, Elsa…"

"Anna, y…you have to understand–"

"When?" Anna demanded harshly, "And _why_, Elsa? A…and were you…were you c…_close_?"

Elsa remained silent, her eyes only focused on the telltale scars on her wrist. After a few minutes passed and she gave no indication that she would answer Anna's questions, Anna snapped, "Don't shut me out this time, Elsa. If those are what I think they are, you _have_ to tell me."

"I don't _have_ to tell you anything," Elsa replied, her voice cold and defensive, "Despite what you believe, I _can_ still keep some secrets from you."

"Well, this isn't a secret anymore!" Anna exclaimed, "I _know_ what those are! The only thing I ask now is _why_, Elsa!"

"Just piece together what you know about me, and you'll figure it out," Elsa told her bitterly.

"Elsa," Anna said, her tone suddenly very quiet, "_Please_. This isn't something I can just throw a theory together for. I _need_ to hear it from you. I promise I won't ask you to reveal any more of your past after this."

Elsa sighed heavily. "This is pretty much the worst of it," she admitted sadly. She closed her eyes tightly for a moment in deep thought. She used the time to force herself to re-live those two nights, and after she was sure she could talk about it, she drew a deep breath and pointed to the older of the two scars. "This happened about four years ago, when I was seventeen," she explained carefully, "It…it was on the day y…you got angry with me for ignoring you…"

"You'll have to be more specific," Anna said sheepishly, "I yelled at your door a lot around that time… Part of being a moody teenager, I guess."

Elsa gave her a half-hearted smile before delivering the blow: "It was the night you said you hated me."

Anna's jaw dropped in horror. "No…" she whispered, "E…Elsa, I…I'm so sorry. I…I didn't mean it…"

"Anna, it's alright," Elsa assured her, "It…it wasn't just you. Besides, I'm still here, so clearly what you said didn't have _that_ great an impact on me."

"But… I regretted saying those words my _whole life_, Elsa! Im…imagine what would have happened if you _had_…"

"Anna! _Please_ don't blame yourself… If anything, you were the one who saved me."

Anna sniffled and wiped away the tears that were beginning to form in her eyes. "I…I was? But I didn't…" she stammered, "I…I mean, you and I didn't speak until the next morning, and…"

Elsa sighed heavily and refused to make eye contact. "I was so close, Anna," she confessed, "My powers had grown so strong that it sometimes physically hurt to contain them. That night had been the worst one so far. And no matter how much Mama and Papa pleaded with me from the other side of my door, I could not see myself as anything but a monster that needed to be destroyed. I saw it as the only way I could possibly protect you – _all_ of you.

"I was ready – ready to face whatever I had waiting for me on the other side. But then Mama reminded me to think of you…to _really_ think. A…and I realized how terrible it would be for _you_, Anna. To hear that your sister was so much of a _coward_ that she just gave up? To hear that you would have to inherit all of her responsibilities because she was too weak to deal with them herself? … To be left without your only friend, whom you rarely saw anyway, and to never know of the demons that haunted her so badly that they forced her to spill her own blood?"

Elsa felt tears of both sadness and anger with herself beginning to fall down her cheeks, but before her ever-present self-loathing consumed her again, Anna reached over and took her hand in hers. She said nothing – she merely offered her a warm, supportive smile.

Elsa found the strength to continue, "I couldn't do that to you, Anna. No matter how great my pain was I could _never_ hurt you like that. So I stopped myself. Mama and Papa were fortunately able to get into my room and further calm me down." She then allowed a small smile onto her face. "In fact, some good actually came of that experience: it was after that night that they decided that it was better if I actually saw you some more. I wasn't in my room as much, and…it was the closest thing to _happy_ that I experienced since I was eight."

Anna leaned over and wrapped her arms around her. "That's when you gave me the snowflakes, wasn't it?" she asked quietly, "I finally completely understand the meaning behind them now, by the way. And thank you, again. I still use them sometimes when I'm scared."

Elsa smiled warmly. "That's what I made them for," she answered.

"Wait…were they _ice_?" Anna gasped as she pulled away to look Elsa in the eye, "I always thought they were crystal! They're not even that cold!"

Her older sister shifted her gaze away. "That was actually the most control over my powers I ever had since the accident…you know, until I built that ice palace," she said shyly, "I just…really wanted to cheer you up, and to let you know that I still cared about you."

"Oh, Elsa!" Anna sighed happily, "You really _are_ the best sister ever!" She was suddenly quiet for a moment before tentatively asking, "And…the second scar? I…I have a feeling I know when it happened, but…"

Elsa's smile fell away from her face as she looked down at the floor. "When Mama and Papa died," she stated flatly, "I…I don't want to get into the details on this one, Anna. But long story short: I was in _so_ much pain. I…I was grieving them, and felt guilty for never even hugging them goodbye, and I was _angry_ because I had been having dreams before they left that foretold _exactly_ that outcome, and they refused to listen, and–"

"Wait, what?" Anna interrupted, "You were having _dreams_ about the storm?"

Elsa nodded weakly. "For about two weeks in advance, every night I dreamt of their boat capsizing when a massive wave struck it. I…I tried to warn them, but they were convinced that it was only my nervous mind wrecking havoc on my psyche. After they left, the dreams stopped and I assumed that they had been correct, but then one night it happened again – more real than anything before. I…I'm sure that I w…watched them… d…die."

Anna could only stare at her sister in horrified sadness. It was not _just _their parents that Elsa had watched die, if what she said was true: she had also witnessed her own sister freeze to death…_and_ almost freeze to death – twice. Then there was the unfathomable trauma from countless nightmares, and the blaming herself, and the wondering why she was the only one _with_ powers… "H…how did you do it, Elsa?" she whispered, "I would have gone insane by now, and I certainly would have ended it… All the terrible things you've been through… I can't even _imagine_…"

Elsa turned to focus her deep eyes on her sister. "I did it because of _you_, Anna. I stayed strong for _you_," she responded, "It's as I said: I could _never_ hurt you, in _any_ way. I know – now, more than ever – what it is like to lose a sister. And I will fight whatever wicked twist life throws at me to make sure you _never_ know that pain. I swore that to God in Heaven on that night, and I make the same vow to you now."


	11. Chapter 11

Once again, Anna was speechless. Only, this time her lack of words came from awe, not fear or sadness. _This_ was her sister that she remembered as a child: this courageous, strong, magnanimous person was Elsa. And this was the first time Anna saw her since they were children. Even after the Great Thaw, the free-spirited Snow Queen was missing something… and this was it. It was that strength: that fierce determination to always stand between evil and her family. Anna knew she had inherited it from somewhere.

Without warning she embraced the Queen in a strong hug, tears flowing freely from her eyes. "I'm sorry I tried to change you, Elsa," she muttered into her sister's shoulder.

"I can see where you were coming from…" Elsa began.

"No," Anna clarified, pulling away so she could speak face-to-face, "I shouldn't have tried because I _didn't_ have to. I was so afraid that I had lost my sister that I didn't realize that she was still there, maybe a little hidden under her past, but not gone."

"But, you did–"

"No, I _didn't_ lose you. Do you know how I remember you, Elsa? As the bravest, strongest, warmest big sister who loved me so much that she would do anything to keep me safe. You promised me that, remember? And you've _always_ done that, no matter what. Even now, you let yourself get attacked by a _wolf_ just to save my butt… I guess fighting off scary shadow monsters was pretty simple compared to life now, huh?"

Elsa laughed softly. "Between that and all the things you did for me, I guess I can say that there really wasn't anything to be afraid of when we were kids. But, just for the record, I'll take fighting a shadow monster over a wolf any day."

As they shared in their amusement, Gerda returned with the fresh bandages. After Elsa's wound was dressed, she took Anna's order for lunch, which consisted of soup and a large plate of chocolate, much to the maid's annoyance. "We are trying to ward off sickness, not bring it about, Princess Anna," she sighed.

"Chocolate makes me feel better," Anna whimpered, using her puppy-dog eyes with full force.

"Your Majesty, please talk some sense into your sister," Gerda begged, trying not to look at the princess for fear of falling for her expression.

Elsa shrugged unhelpfully. "Actually, I wouldn't mind a treat myself," she said, "How about you bring up one plate of chocolate, and we'll share?"

Gerda sighed. "Yes, your Majesty. But I only fret over these things because I care about you."

"And we are very thankful, Gerda," Elsa told her earnestly. She cast a glance at Anna before gently nudging her arm.

"Ow! Oh, I…mean, thank you, Gerda," Anna said quickly.

Gerda rolled her eyes and suppressed a laugh as she left the room.

Once she was gone, Anna turned to Elsa again. "Going back to the wolf thing… I have a few questions for you," she said, fiddling with her fingers to avoid eye contact as she did, "First off: how exactly were you able to throw a wolf twice your size several feet across a clearing? Second: same question, only with that ice-club you made? Third: you fell off a thirty-foot cliff and just _walked it off_ like it was nothing…how? Fourth–"

"Alright, alright!" Elsa interrupted, "There's more weird stuff about me that you don't understand yet: point taken. I…I don't really know, Anna."

Anna slowly poked Elsa's good arm as if she was inspecting it. "Maybe you _are_ immortal, or maybe, like, a demi-god or something," she speculated.

"I'm _not_ a demi-god," Elsa deadpanned.

"Well, how else would you explain super-strength? Or the ability to fall off of things and not get hurt?" She paused for a moment to think, while tapping her finger on her chin. "Now that I think about it, how in the blazes did you climb up the North Mountain so quickly? I mean, it took me and Kristoff like, _two_ days to get up there, yet you had already moved in and made yourself comfortable."

"Anna…"

"_Kristoff_ I could see climbing up there in no time because, you know, he's an experienced mountain man and knows the way, but with me dragging him down we were pretty slow. But at least I _had_ someone who knew where they were going."

"_Anna_…"

"You were by yourself! And it was dark, and you were wearing your coronation dress with that crazy-long cape…that must have slowed you down, didn't it? But I guess you ditched it eventually for that ice dress–"

"Anna!"

Anna paused her monologue to look at her sister. "Yeah?"

"You're rambling again," Elsa said with a grin.

Anna smiled back at her. "Well? How'd you do it?" she asked innocently.

Elsa nervously bit her lip and looked away. "I…I really don't know, Anna. The things that you just described…I never really noticed until I was put into a situation that needed them," she explained softly, "I didn't know I was that strong until that wolf attacked me. I didn't know I could land on solid ice after a thirty-foot drop and not suffer any broken bones until it happened. I didn't know I could run that fast until I had cleared the tree line up in the mountains. Actually…do you want to know the weirdest thing about me?"

Anna leaned in closely and nodded her head with eagerness. "What is it?" she wondered. What could possibly be weirder than the fact that she was an ice sorceress?

Elsa took a deep breath before revealing, "I don't have to eat."

Anna cocked her head in confusion. "So, you're not hungry, or…?"

"No, I _do not_ have to eat to survive, Anna. Th…there was a time a few years ago when I was just so nervous that I was constantly sick to my stomach. I hardly ate anything, yet I never seemed to suffer the symptoms other people get when they starve. So, after the anxiety died down a bit, I went two weeks without touching any food or water out of curiosity… and nothing happened. Granted, I lost some weight, but I never passed out, or felt tired or dizzy. I just…don't have to eat, and I'll still live."

Anna found herself once again staring like an idiot. After a painfully long pause, she stated bluntly, "Yep. You _are_ a demi-goddess. I don't care what you have to say about it – it's the truth. And actually, that answered my question about how you were so ok with staying up on the North Mountain with, like, no supplies whatsoever."

Elsa laughed. "I would have learned how to hunt eventually," she said defensively.

Anna snorted with laughter. "_You_? Hunting? I'd pay money to see that!" she struggled to say as she nearly fell over with joy, "No, no, wait! I want to see you _fishing_! I bet you'd be a natural at _ice_ fishing!"

Elsa crossed her arms in annoyance. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," she sighed, "The next time you're being chased by a pack of wolves, don't expect me to help you."

Anna suddenly stopped and sat back up. "Ok, I'm sorry," she said quickly, "You were actually _really_ awesome out there. Don't tell Kristoff this, but if I ever have to fight off dangerous creatures again, you're my first choice as a sidekick."

"Wha– _Sidekick_?" Elsa sputtered, visibly taken aback by the title, "I seem to recall you doing nothing but cowering behind me…not that I _wanted_ you leaping into action and doing something stupid, but…" She trailed off when she noticed Anna's loving smile. "What's that look for?"

"For my sister," Anna replied calmly, "I'm glad to have you back, Elsa."

Elsa's smile grew as she leaned in and pulled her younger sister into a hug. "I'm glad to _be_ back, Anna," she whispered. Anna responded by hugging her tighter, refusing to let go for another few minutes.

Gerda then knocked on the door once again before entering with a tray of chicken soup and chocolate. "Now I want you to eat all of that soup before you even touch those chocolates, Princess Anna," the maid said strictly, noticing Anna's hand reaching toward one of the delectable treats. Anna sighed in annoyance while Elsa struggled to contain a giggle. Gerda was the only member of their staff who could get away with speaking to either of them like that, since she had practically acted like their grandmother ever since they were born. Even Kai, though the butler had been in their lives just as long, still found himself bound more by his job than any sort of caregiver feelings he had for them.

"Don't worry, Gerda," Elsa assured her, "I'll make sure she does. Although she'd better hurry and finish that soup, otherwise all of these chocolates will be gone." With that she took a round piece of milk chocolate and popped it in her mouth, casting Anna a sly smile as she savoured the taste.

"Hey, no fair!" Anna whined. She then picked up the bowl of soup and began to down it as fast as she could.

Gerda rolled her eyes as she left them to their own devices. As she left the room, she cast one final glance at the royal siblings. They were no longer the regal Queen or the adventurous Princess: they were Elsa and Anna – two sisters full of love and happiness. "I'm glad to know that some things don't change," the maid murmured to herself. She stepped out into the hall and her eyes fell upon the portrait of the late King and Queen at its end, watching protectively over their youngest daughter's door. "You two would be very proud," Gerda sighed.

What the maid, or anyone for that matter, did not know was that those words were truer than anything. The vow made on the deck of that doomed ship three years ago held strong even to this day: King Adgar and Queen Idun never left their daughters, and they could not be prouder or happier for their girls.


	12. Chapter 12

The storm cleared the next day. As the sun broke through the cloud layer, the people of Arendelle began to creep out of their shelters to observe the damage. It was bad, perhaps worse than the impromptu snowstorm back in July, simply because of the amount of snow. Some people could not leave their houses through the door, as several feet of powder was now blocking the exits. Ice had accumulated underneath the thick layer of snow, making clearing it harder than anticipated.

But despite the severity, the people were not worried. Thanks to Queen Elsa's warnings, everyone had at least one shovel at their disposals to allow them to dig out of their homes. The castle guards had been dispatched into the village to begin clearing snow, while the staff worked on the main courtyard.

"Yay! Winter's here!" a rather happy snowman cheered as he bounded out the castle doors and into the snowy wonderland.

"I thought you were a fan of summer?" Anna asked as she excitedly followed after him, bouncing back quickly after twisting her ankle.

"Of course summer's my _favourite_ season," Olaf clarified, "But I love every season! Come on, let's go have a snowball fight!"

Anna nodded eagerly with a large grin plastered on her face. She took one step toward the door, and was stopped by a very firm, authoritative voice: "Hold it, Anna."

Anna groaned and turned to face her elder sister. "_Elsaaa_, please let me go out and have some fun!" she pleaded, putting on her puppy-dog face for good measure.

Elsa strode over to her with Gerda following closely. The maid held a pile of different fabrics in her arms. Elsa reached into the pile and began bundling Anna up tightly. "This time, I'm making sure you actually dress properly," she said sternly, yet her playful smirk gave away her true feelings.

By the time she was done, Anna was sweltering. She struggled to pull a thick wool scarf down from around her face so she could talk…and breathe. "Don't you think you're overdoing it a bit?" she asked after she gasped for air, "I can't even move."

Elsa took a step back and silently observed the mountain of wool, fleece and fur burying Anna for a moment. "Hmm, maybe you're right…" she sighed.

"_Maybe_?"

"Fine. Here." She took off a few layers, leaving a thick cloak, mittens, scarf, hat, and warm boots. "That better for you?"

"Yes, much," Anna replied, casting a grateful glance at her sister, "So, do I even have to ask?"

Elsa let out a heavy sigh. "I promise I'll join you in a few hours, Anna," she told her, "But right now, I have to help with snow removal in the village."

Anna looked like she was about to pout and protest, but instead allowed a happily determined expression onto her face. "Fine. Then I'm coming with you. Kristoff showed me a few ice harvesting tricks, so snow can't be much different, right?" she said energetically.

Elsa laughed. "Alright, let's go."

They were stopped in the doorway again, this time by someone loudly clearing his throat. They both turned to Kai, who was holding up a dark blue cloak with a small smile. Elsa sighed softly before accepting the cloak and donning it. "Thank you, Kai," she said sincerely.

He gave her a warm smile. "Thank _you_ for putting a worried old man at ease, your Majesty," he said with a slight bow.

The Queen gave him a warm smile in return, before nodding and taking her leave. As the two royals left the castle grounds and walked down the bridge – Elsa lifting the snow up and over the edges as they went – Anna wondered, "So, you _really_ don't feel the cold?"

"No, well, _externally_ anyway. Sometimes when I worry too much I can feel what I assume to be cold inside of me," Elsa explained, "Why?"

"No reason," Anna stated while attempting to hide a handful of snow she had gathered off the railing of the bridge. Before Elsa could notice, she quickly dumped the relatively large amount of snow into the hood of the blue cloak before flipping it up over Elsa's head.

"Anna!" Elsa gasped in surprise, the hood momentarily blocking her line of sight. She flipped it back down before whipping around to face her assailant. Anna had begun to sprint away, but did not get far when a large mound of snow suddenly and "unexpectedly" broke free from a nearby rooftop and landed directly on top of her with a low _whump_.

Anna struggled to dig herself out, and when her head finally broke free of the pile, she was staring up at her sister, who was dusting her hands off. "Come on, Elsa, all I did was stuff some snow into your hood," she complained.

"Anna, this should go without saying but since you seem to be having difficulty grasping the concept I'll say it anyway: if you _must_ start a snow fight, don't start one with the Snow Queen," Elsa said with her stoic voice, however the sparkle in her eye told Anna that the tone was more of a mockery of her normally dignified attitude than an actual representation. With that said, she then extended a hand and helped the Princess to her feet.

"I'm totally getting you back for that later," Anna told her.

Elsa was still shaking some loose snowflakes out of her hair, which were refusing to melt for obvious reasons. "Go ahead. But don't say I didn't warn you," the Queen responded playfully.

A few minutes after they arrived in the town square, they separated to go to their own specific tasks. Anna grabbed a shovel and started pushing the powdery snow into piles to be loaded into carts and carried outside of the town to be dumped. Elsa was focused on the roofs of the houses, most of which were covered with so much snow that there was a risk of cave-ins. With a wave of her hands, the snow and ice lifted off of the buildings and was divided into waiting horse-drawn carts. The drivers nodded to the Queen before leaving, allowing the next fleet of empty wagons to be set up and loaded.

As Elsa was preparing for the fourth block of houses, she was interrupted by a nervous cough to draw her attention. She turned around and scowled at the man standing sheepishly in front of her.

"Minister Dalgaard," she greeted icily.

"Before you say anything, your Majesty," he stammered quickly, putting his hands up before him in a sign of surrender, "I…I just wanted to apologize."

"Isn't _that_ nice," Anna's sarcastic voice stated as she came into view. She strode over and took up a strong stance beside her equally rigid sister. "What are you even doing here? I'm pretty sure Elsa kicked you out of the kingdom."

"We were preparing to leave, your Majesty," he explained hastily, as he felt the air growing colder, "B…but then we were stalled…erm, more like _trapped_ here, due to…um…to…" He looked down at the ground and muttered quietly, "The storm."

"Well, I certainly am upset to see that you are still in Arendelle, Minister," Elsa said coldly, "But I am relieved that you decided that it was too dangerous to travel. I would rather have you here alive than frozen somewhere along the trail to your own kingdom."

The Minister winced, understanding her tone completely. "I, once again, apologize, Queen Elsa," he said sincerely, "I…I should have believed you when you first told me. I must admit: I was still suspicious that the storm was some sort of ruse on your part, but when I saw exactly how bad it was, I knew it was not your doing. You care too much for Arendelle to actually inflict something like that upon her people. I should have realized that."

Elsa remained silent, her face unreadable, although the air temperature in their immediate surroundings was a warning to anyone that she was still not amused.

The Minister cleared his throat anxiously. "Th…that being said, I would also like to offer my sincerest apologies for what I said the other day. It was out of line, unprofessional, and…just flat-out wrong. I may not have had many dealings with you, your Majesty, but from the times I have seen you, I have made at least one judgement that I will from now on always consider: you are incapable of hurting anyone, and I mean that in the best of ways. Your compassion is great, and your love, even greater. And it is through those observations that I realized that those statements I made were absolutely terrible.

"I understand your punishment, and I promise I will leave immediately. I just wanted to say 'sorry' before I left."

The air around them warmed before Elsa's face did. Anna did not notice either. She was too busy fuming because this was the man who set off one of her sister's panic attacks, and she was not about to forgive him because of some fancy apology. She took a step forward and opened her mouth to say something nasty, but was stopped by a gentle hand coming to rest on her arm. She shot Elsa a confused glance, and was met with: "I accept your apology, Minister Dalgaard. We _both_ do."

"But–" Anna began to protest.

"_Furthermore_," Elsa cut in, her ice-cold glare silencing her sister before any other word could form in her mouth, "I will retract my earlier punishment. To repeat your own words, Minister, it was out of line and unprofessional. You are not banished from Arendelle, as it is not my place to impose such an act without a justifiable reason. Simply 'hurting my feelings' is not justifiable, at least, not to me."

Anna could not believe this. After what this jerk had said, Elsa was just going to let him go like that? But then Elsa finished, her voice once again gaining that terrifying tone of an Ice Queen: "However, if I hear of _any_ such words coming from your mouth again, I will not hesitate to change my mind. Do I make myself clear, Minister?"

He gulped nervously. "Y…yes, your Majesty. As ice…erm, crystal! Yes, crystal." When her face remained in that frightening, unreadable glare, he added, "I…I should probably head out. I'll be expected home soon, after all." He laughed nervously before it died off awkwardly. He then shuffled away, his footsteps speeding up until he was almost sprinting down the street.

Once he was out of sight, Elsa relaxed. "Oooh, you are _scary_ when you want to be," Anna observed, "Remind me never to get you that angry."

"If you're lucky, you won't see me that angry again," Elsa muttered, "I hate scaring people like that, even arrogant brutes like him."

"But you are good at it," Anna told her with a small, sing-song voice, "And it's kinda fun to watch… You know, as long as you're not on the receiving end…"

"Anna…"

"Right, yeah, I know. You don't like the whole 'cold-hearted witch' image thing. I totally get that. I mean, it must be bad enough when people judge you for your powers, and then there's…"

"_Anna_…"

"…the fact that you're also _Queen_, so if you really wanted to, you could have sent that guy to the stocks, or something– _Oof._" Anna suddenly halted her ramble when a snowball collided with her face. Elsa held another one in her hand in case one was not enough to shut her sister up. "Oh, you'll pay for that," Anna warned.

"Just remember what I told you," Elsa said as she tossed the snowball lightly in the air, where it disappeared into a small flurry of particles.

Anna crossed her arms and cast her sister a pout. "Are you almost done?" she whined.

"Just a few more houses, Anna," the Queen replied. With that, she moved her arms forward and lifted the snow off of the houses on their street, directing it into the waiting carts.

Anna watched in silent awe. She was secretly amazed every time Elsa used her powers, and even something as simple as moving snow was incredible to watch. "Ok, well I'm going to hang around you, to make sure you actually abide by that," she said with determination, "Then the first thing we're doing when we're done is building a snowman."

Elsa could not contain her laugh. "What do you think I'm going to do, Anna? Run off to my oh-so-exciting paperwork immediately after I finish up here?"

Anna merely shrugged. "You've done it before," she reminded her, "Sometimes I think that 'oh-so-exciting' paperwork really is exciting for you. Although I can't imagine why."

Elsa rolled her eyes and lifted more snow off the houses. She divided a small section away from the large mass and lightly dropped it over her sister's head. Anna furiously struggled to dig herself out, and when her head eventually popped out, she whined, "Elsaaa, I just cleaned this square!"

"Really? _That's_ what you're mad about?" Elsa questioned lightly. With a wave of her hand, the snow floated away from Anna and into a cart. She inspected her work, seeing that every roof was clear of snow. "Ok, I'm d–"

A ball of snow suddenly exploded on the back of her head. It caught her by enough of a surprise that she gasped at the force that was strong enough to push her forward slightly. She slowly turned her head to glance at Anna, who was standing a few feet away with her hands behind her back and whistling innocently. The Princess caught her older sister's mischievous grin before watching in mild fright as she formed a massive snowball in her hands and held it aloft above her head. With a small squeal, she sprinted away, but she knew Elsa was giving chase from the sound of her laughter following closely behind.

Elsa managed to corner her in an alley. Anna turned around to see that the large snowball had gotten bigger. It would have been soft, powdery snow, but since she had already been buried twice that day, she had no desire to be struck with that thing. There was only one chance, and she went for it.

Putting on her most shocked and horrified expression she could fake, she suddenly pointed to the air behind them, and exclaimed, "Oh my gosh, what is _that_?"

It was convincing, and Elsa dropped her defenses for a split second to turn and see what Anna was talking about. Anna saw her opportunity and quickly stooped down to form a snowball. She fired at Elsa and struck her square on the side of the head. The strike knocked away her focus for a short moment, but it was long enough for the giant snowball to stop hovering in the air above her and come crashing down on its creator.

Anna could barely run due to the fact that she was laughing so hard, but she managed to manoeuvre around her snow-covered sister and out of the alley. "I can't believe you fell for that!" she yelled victoriously as she ran away.

Elsa blasted the snow away from her with a giant gust of frigid wind. "Anna! Get back here!" she shouted in a tone that no longer sounded as playful as before.

"Uh oh," Anna muttered as she began to run faster, heading to the hopeful safety of the castle. She made it as far as the courtyard. Then the Snow Queen caught her.


	13. Epilogue

Kristoff returned to the castle later that evening, after all the snow had been cleared and the great battle between the Queen and the Princess had been concluded with an outstanding victory for the monarch. He wanted to see Anna again to let her know that he had returned safe and sound before heading off to bed, and after asking a member of the castle staff, he was directed in the right direction.

He found her and Elsa in the library, cuddled up under a blanket together on the couch in front of a roaring fire. Anna was sound asleep, her head resting on Elsa's shoulder and snoring slightly. The Queen did not seem to mind, as she held a book in one hand, while the other was wrapped protectively around her little sister. He did not fail to notice the two empty mugs of what he assumed to be hot chocolate sitting on a table nearby.

Elsa looked up from her book when she heard him enter and cast him a small smile. "Welcome back," she greeted quietly.

"Thanks," he replied sheepishly. Even now, in a position that was the furthest thing from _Queen_ Elsa, she still somehow managed to slightly intimidate him.

"Was the harvest good?" she asked.

He nodded. "That lake has always provided the best ice… Well, aside from you," he told her with a nervous grin.

"I appreciate the compliment," she responded warmly, "And I trust you took the proper precautions during that storm?"

He shrugged. "Nothing like spending three days in a cramped cabin with a reindeer to really make you appreciate the wonder of actually being outside. I see everything has been cleaned up nicely, here."

She nodded. "Yes, we've had quite the day," she said softly, casting an affectionate glance down at the princess.

"Do you want me to carry her to bed for you?" he asked. He caught her suspicious glare, so he added quickly, "And then go to my own bed _waayy_ on the other side of the castle?"

Her pleasant mood returned. "No, that's alright," she told him, "I'd like to stay like this a little longer. I'll let her know that you've returned home safely, if you wish. You look exhausted."

He rubbed one eye wearily. "Little bit," he said through a yawn, "Well, alright then. Goodnight, your Majes– Erm, _Elsa_."

"Goodnight, Kristoff," she returned with a smile.

He nodded and left them alone. Elsa closed her book and set it down beside her. She looked down at her sister and just felt at peace. For thirteen years she had always dreamed of being able to do this: to hold her sister and feel calm and in control doing it. But there was more to it than just that, as momentous as that was.

In the time spent in her room over those thirteen years, she had stared out her window at night a lot. And it was then that she sent a wish to every star she could see from that window. Some were different wishes, but many were the same one: she just wanted to be happy again. There were sometimes fleeting moments when she _thought_ that maybe she was happy, but they never lasted long and they never were the kind of joy she used to feel that filled her whole being. After her parents died, that wish was the first one she stopped asking for, because she believed it to be impossible.

But now, while holding her sister close and feeling the warmth and comfort from both the fire and Anna's body, she felt that nearly forgotten feeling of happiness. It was not like the relief-based happiness she felt when Anna came back to life, or the adrenaline-fueled ecstasy she felt on the North Mountain, or even the playful joy she had felt earlier that day.

This was the kind of happiness that made her feel warm inside; the kind that told her that even though there are and always would be moments in her life that would hurt, she was going to be alright because it _was_ possible for her to heal from them.

That was always Anna's promise to her whenever the younger sister had to cheer her up: that she was going to be ok. Now, after all this time, Elsa could _finally_ believe it.


End file.
